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THE UNIVERSITY 
OF ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


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Return this book on or before the 
Latest Date stamped below. A 
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CHANGING CONCEPTIONS RELATIVE 
TO THE PLANNING OF LESSONS 


BY 


LOIS COFFEY MOSSMAN, Pu.D. 


TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDUCATION, NO. 147 


Published by 
Teachers College, Columbia Gnibersitp 
New York City 
1924 


Copyright, 1924, by 
TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 


> 


ae 


ES age 
NM $ae¢ 


> eae ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 


CY 
“2 I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to the many who so 


~~ kindly assisted in this study by giving me the information sought 
in the questionnaires. For the point of view stated relative to 
modern education, I am indebted to Teachers College, which has 
given me years of opportunity for study and association, making 
possible a sympathy for the changing point of view in education. 
Most of all I am indebted to the committee who guided and as- 
sisted me so generously in this study—Professors Frank M. Mc- 
Murry, Milo B. Hillegas, Frederick G. Bonser, and William H. 
- Kilpatrick. 
Lots CorFEY MOoOssMAN 
March, 1924 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 
I. LESSON-PLANNING IN THE UNITED STATES PREVIOUS 
TOME SIE RBARTIAN MOVEMENT ig {2 borcciiganl Haein I 
hep SUS ahd Gibs 2 (ake Mayan ALE Sa ekg Gay c8l A 
RIM E eLIOC LOI): TOPO CONT SOO Tein CP iitleathe| Cee tore ud dies fay 
Miiee Lue Period, IOUT S00; CONGO. Vit cei atin ai cael tay aes dig oS 
1. The Influence of Object Teaching upon the Preteen of 
AL eSSONS 79 3 
2. The Growing Tesenctartian Sith Methods Oe ifeactine 
Proposed : : > 
3. The Practice of oral ceanke Relative fe Tens Planniie 6 


4. The Attitudes of Books of Pedagogy, Published in This 
Period, Relative to Lesson-Planning . ARRON SRL Wedbae ag Sha (UarcL St 6) 


SUISUN emer eae PORT sd yn ha pg cules ea Te Rae 0 Qe cae rela Map aa OA Te 


II. HERBARTIANISM AS THE SOURCE OF THE FORMAL STEPS 
CTH Nae CCE TOON BRR fe a OMe ret yt! 7 of PS MAD Dh att 2 


1. The Psychology and Cas tee of Herbart ead His Theory 
or instruction) }).\. Be tees tir bate Terence sai Aue Mt HNaeh peta uk 2 


11. The Formal Steps of Herbart as site the Movement in 
LGU aan B rol TGS SCE Bee TLE RES Ber DTN MOR tse AMEE ee) aoa CORINA rts WTULR 


SALUTE at voll Whe) CESS PRE AN FILE PO Trig date MATE rae oe UC AS a UIC ge 9 


III. THE HERBARTIAN MOVEMENT IN EDUCATION IN THE 


DCL OST St rth ek yt Me EME eam ok Nh) ya nnte ie MEO 
1. The Beginnings of Contact with the Herbartian Ideas ..... 16 
11. The Method Used in Disseminating Herbartianism, Especially 
the Theory Relative to the Formal Steps of Instruction .... 16 
EAs oe Or tee tS oh Oh) MALE RGR eam MeN Shy) POM AN we oe ke tats RE 


IV. THE RECEPTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF HERBARTIANISM, ' 
PARTICULARLY THE FORMAL STEPS OF INSTRUCTION. . 22 
RES LMCATE, DYA DOOM INEVICWS ES ches cues wel Bop Lek te ib cine ye kin hs 22 


u. As Indicated in Educational Addresses, Reports and Articles in 
BO AP RCS Me hal AE g a ne tes Mh) eiohes ah oe Aw Vals on hd opine She) 2B 


vi Contents 


PAGE 


1. As Indicated by the Studies Made of Normal School Practice in 
Training Teachers 


Iv. As Indicated by the Catalogues and Other Printed Matter Issued 
by Some Normal Schools 


v. As Indicated by the Writings and Addresses of Those Particularly 
Interested in Training Teachers 


vi. As Indicated by the Elaboration and Modification of the Five 
Formal Steps in the Period since 1900 . 


Summary. . 


V. PRESENT ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES RELATIVE TO 
LESSON-PLANNING 


1. The Method of Securing the Data 
11. The Findings from the Investigation 


Summary . 


VI. SOME SUGGESTIONS RELATIVE TO CONTINUOUS PREPARA- 
TION OF DAILY WoRK IN THE CONDUCT OF INSTRUCTION 


1. The Background 
11. The Problem . 


111. Present Theories Relative to Instruction 
1. The Nature of the Learning Process 
2. The Function of the School .. 
3. The Nature of Instruction 


Iv. The Implications of Present Theories for Preparation for In- 
struction . 

1. The Nature BE Braparatiog| 

2. Considerations Relative to Preparation for incttnenan ie 
volved in Training Teachers . : 

3. Considerations Relative to Preparation Tnvolved i in the Smee 
vision and Administration of Teaching : 

4. Considerations Relative to the Different Kinds oe Beoeadine 
for Which the Teacher Should Prepare 


BIBLIOGRAPHY . 


26 
31. 
32 


34 
37 


38 
38 
41 
47 


49 


49 
51 
53 
53 


54 
55 


57 
a7 


60 
61 


62 


68 


CHANGING CONCEPTIONS RELATIVE 
TO THE PLANNING OF LESSONS 


CHAPTER I 


LESSON-PLANNING IN THE UNITED STATES 
~ PREVIOUS TO THE HERBARTIAN MOVEMENT 


I. BEFORE 1820 


Previous to 1820 there had developed in the United States some 
significant public interest in education. The dame school, the 
writing school, and the Latin grammar school of the eighteenth 
century were being supplemented by the City School Societies. 
These latter were results of the efforts to establish free schools and 
make them adequate for caring for the large numbers in the cities. 
In all of these schools, the acquirement of knowledge was usually 
the objective. The method of instruction in use was largely 
catechetical. There seemed to be little question as to what subject 
matter should be taught. “The New England Primer,’ the 
Catechism, the Bible, and Noah Webster’s ‘‘Speller’’ constituted 
the chief texts... Such a conception of teaching embodied little 
notion of planning lessons as we now understand it. 


Il. THE PERIOD FROM 1820 TO 1860 


The period from 1820 to 1860 is marked by the growth of a 
professional conception of teaching. The professional training of 
teachers may be said to have begun with the establishment of the 
first teacher-training school at Concord, Vermont, in 1823, by 
Samuel R. Hall.2, Among the early professional books* for teachers 
was one written by Mr. Hall in 1829. While he discussed the 
teaching of each subject, including such new subjects as geography, 
history, and composition, the only suggestion relative to the prep- 
aration of a lesson was that of preparing at home the copies in the 
copy books. The first teachers’ institute was organized by Henry 

1Cubberley, Ellwood P., Public Education in the United States, pp. 25-96, 215. 


2Cubberley, op. ctt., p. 287. 
3Hall, Samuel R., Lectures on School-Keeping, 18209. 


2 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


Barnard in 1839 in Connecticut. This same year marks the 
establishment of the first state normal school in the United States 
at Lexington, Massachusetts. By 1860, eleven normal schools had 
been established. 

Possibly the most significant contribution, in this period, to 
teaching as a profession came from David Page, first president of 
the New York State Normal School at Albany. This was his book 
on The Theory and Practice of Teaching, written in 1847. In this 
book, as well as in an address delivered before the American Insti- 
tute of Instruction, 1844, he argued for a “‘ Plan of the Day’s Work,”’ 
whereby he meant “a definite arrangement in the day’s work so 
that every class has something to do, and a definite time to do it in.’ 
This is the earliest evidence so far found in America of anything 
that looks toward system in ordering the work of teaching. 

In the Theory and Practice of Teaching® we find the following 


relative to preparation of lessons: ‘The teacher should especially 
prepare himself for each lesson he assigns. . . . The teacher 
_ should daily study his class lesson. . . . In this daily study, 


he should master the text-book upon the subject; and, more than this, 
he should consider what collateral matter he can bring in to illus- 
trate the lesson.’”’ Mr. Page further suggests the keeping of a 
commonplace book in which the teacher records illustrative stories, 
facts, incidents, anecdotes, etc., pertinent to each subject. This 
book is to be used to furnish material as needed. 

When questioned as to how he trained his students in the art of 
teaching, Mr. Pierce, first principal of the State Normal School at 
Lexington, Massachusetts, said: 

“You. 2.))\ ask me vfior:a full account of my manner or 
instruction in the art of teaching. Two things I have aimed at 
especially, in this school: (1) To teach thoroughly the principles 
of the several branches studied so that the pupils may have a clear 
and full understanding of them; (2) to teach the pupils by my own 
example, as well as by precept, the best way of teaching the same 
thing effectively. to others. I have four different methods of reci- 
_ tation: First, by question and answer; second, by conversation; 
' third, by calling on one, two, three, more or fewer, to give ananalysis 


4Cubberley, op. cit., p. 242. 

5Page, David, Advancement in the Means and Method of Instruction, pp. 25-26. An address 
delivered before the American Institute of Instruction at its Fourteenth Anniversary at Pittsfield, 
Massachusetts. 

6 Pages 141-143. 


Lesson-Planning Previous to the Herbartian Movement 3 


of the whole subject contained in the lesson; and fourth, by requiring 
written analyses, in which the ideas of the author are stated in the 
language of the pupils. . . . At all the recitations we have 
more or less discussion. . . . Sometimes, instead of reciting 
the lesson directly to me, I ask them to imagine themselves for the 
time acting in the capacity of teachers. . . . At many of our 
recitations more than half the time is spent with reference to 
teaching the art of teaching.’” 

Throughout this period of growing interest in teaching as a pro- 
fession, we find no evidence of any notion of a procedure to be 
followed in teaching other than that of making sure that the children 
know the facts and of explaining those facts which are not under- 
stood. No one seems to have thought that instruction could be 
improved by any planning other than that of learning the facts and 
perhaps getting some illustrations. 


III. THE PERIOD FROM 1860 TO 1890 


I. The Influence of Object Teaching upon the Preparation 
of Lessons 


In 1860, Dr. E. A. Sheldon saw an exhibit at Toronto, Canada, 
of object teaching as it had been developed in England by Charles 
Mayo and his sister Elizabeth. Dr. Sheldon returned to Oswego, 
New York, where he was superintendent of schools, and proposed 
to his teachers that they study this method of teaching. So eager 
did they become for help in their study that they contributed— 
some as much as half a year’s salary—to a fund to bring to them 
Miss M. E. M. Jones from the Home and Colonial Training In- 
stitution, London, where she had worked with the Mayos. In 
1862, Hermann Kriisi, son of Pestalozzi’s first assistant at Yverdon, 
came to the assistance of Dr. Sheldon in developing the Pestalozzian 
ideas of object teaching as based upon perception. The normal 
school established at Oswego from these beginnings became the 
center of national interest in education because of the pedagogical 
theories it fostered and developed there. Of these theories, that 
of object teaching is perhaps the most significant in shaping practice 
relative to form of class instruction. The following lesson illus- 
trates the kind of procedure embodied in this theory: 

TReport of Commissioner of Education, 1888-1889, Vol. 1: 283. 


8Hollis, A. P., The Contribution of the Oswego Normal School to Educational Progress in the United 
States, 1898. 


4 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


‘“A Piece of Bark. 


“What is this? A piece of bark. All look at it. Where do we find bark? 
On trees. On what part of trees? Look and see. (The teacher brings in a piece 
of the stem of a tree on which the bark still remains.) On the outside. Repeat 
together—‘Bark is the outer part of the stems of trees.’ 

“Look at the bark; what do you perceive? It is brown. Repeat—‘Bark is 
brown.’ Look again; is it like glass? No, we cannot see through it. What can 
you say of it then? We cannot see through bark. Compare it with glass. It 
does not shine. When anything does not shine at all, it is said to be dull; what 
is the bark? It is dull. Repeat—‘The bark is dull.” Show me some things in 
the room that are dull. Now feel the bark. It is rough. And what more? It 
is dry. Now look: (the teacher separates the fibre) it has strings or hairs. These 
strings or hairs are called fibers, and we say the bark is fibrous. Repeat—‘The 
bark is fibrous.’ Some plants have very fibrous stems, and are very useful to 
us on this account; here are some of the fibers of hemp; and here are some of 
flax, which supplies much of our clothing. I think you can find out something 
more if you feel the bark again. Yes; it is hard. 

‘‘Now repeat all you have said. ‘Bark is the outside covering of the stems of 
trees; it is brown; we cannot. see through it; itis rough, dull, dry, hard, and fibrous,’”® 


In 1862, Dr. Sheldon, assisted by Miss M. E. M. Jones and 
Professor H. Kriisi, published A Manual of Elementary Instruction, 
for the Use of Public and Private Schools and Normal Classes; 
Containing a Graduated Course of Object Lessons for Training 
the Senses and Developing the Faculties of children.’’ In the 
‘introduction we find the following: 

‘‘Model lessons are given, and then subjects suggested on which 
similar lessons may be drawn up. The models should be carefully 
examined and analyzed, and, in the case of classes in training, 
the original sketches should in every instance be submitted to the 
criticism of the teacher. In some of the lessons, general directions 
are more particular; while many are drawn out at full length, in- 
cluding both questions and answers. In any case, they are only 
designed as suggestions and models to guide teachers 1 in working 
out their own plans and methods.’’™ 

The authors stressed the importance, in preparing teachers 
for this work, of training students to write out notes or sketches 
(outlines), consisting of: 

1. Matter 

2. Points contained in the title 

9Mayo, Elizabeth, A Manual of Elementary Instruction, for Infant School and Private Tuttion, 


Dp. 102-103. London, 1860. 
Page 8. 


Lesson-Planning Previous to the Herbartian Movement 5 


3. Terms or information given 

4. Ideas developed 

5. Illustrations 
By preparation, they meant the writing of the analysis, or sketch, 
of the lesson, not the writing of full detailed questions and answers. 
In some of the sketches of lessons given we find the use of the two- 
column form, matter in the left column and method in the right 
column.!. 2 

From the beginning in Oswego, the use of object teaching be- 
came general in educational circles. In the annual report of the 
Trenton Normal School for 1862, we find the following indication 
of the acceptance of object teaching: 

“‘Under this plan, known as the object system, the special prep- 
aration for the school room duties is careful and minute. 
The consequence is that very young teachers acquire a degree of 
ease, skill, and dexterity in conducting the exercises of a school 
that is impossible under any other less thorough plan.’’# 

Examination of books, magazines, and reports of educational 
meetings, published in the three decades following the introduction 
of object teaching at Oswego, shows its wide acceptance as a 
definite method and form of instruction. It was based upon a 
psychology which stressed prominently the significance of per- 
ception in learning. It was based upon a philosophy of very 
limited pupil activity. It was based upon a theory of pupil accep- 
tance of subject matter handed to him. It made very slight pro- 
vision for teacher initiative and no provision for pupil initiative. 
It assumed teacher dictation of every step in the learning process. 


2. The Growing Dissatisfaction with Methods 
of Teaching Proposed 


Search through the educational writings of this period soon re- 
veals a growing dissatisfaction with the proposed methods of teach- 
ing.14* Among instances, the words of J. W. Dickinson in 1880 may 
be indicative: 


Pages 16-42. 

2JIn 1879, J. R. Blakiston of Trinity College, Cambridge, used the double column of subject 
matter and method in a book entitled Hints on School Management. 

WSeventh Annual Report of the Trenton, New Jersey, State Normal School, 1862: 26. 

“See Buckham, H. B., N. E. A. Report, 1873: 196-197; Soldan, F. Louis, N. E. A. Report, 
1874: 245-253; Dunton, Larkin, N. E. A. Report, 1874: 242; Gilchrist, J. C., N. E. A. Report, 
1881: 201-206; Dickinson, J. W., N. E. A. Report, 1880: 101. 


6 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


‘“‘What we need now is some wise man to take hold of our un- 
systematized elementary work, and organize it with reference to 
the relations different topics of elementary knowledge hold to the 
science. We need also to have our methods of teaching conform 
more fully to the laws of mental activity and mental growth.’’!® 

In his report for 1885-1886, the Commissioner of Education said: 
. “There has been too great a tendency on the part of many school 
' officers to adopt new methods of teaching, solely for the sake of 
- novelty, and to show too little regard for thoroughness in instruc- 
ton. re 

‘““By some this type of teaching and planning, which seems to 
‘ have grown out of object teaching, came to be regarded as tending 
' toward the dangerline of killing individuality, of crushing out 
spontaneity, of dwarfing the teaching ingenuity by reducing every- 
thing to the dead level of certain so-called philosophical methods.’’” 


3. The Practice of Normal Schools Relatwe 
to Lesson-Planning 


If we consider the evidence available showing the methods used 
by the normal schools in training student teachers during the period 
from 1860 to 1890, we find little to indicate that attention was given 
to training in planning lessons. Records of criticisms of student 
teaching in the Trenton, New Jersey, State Normal School, pub- 
lished in 1867-1868, contain such expressions as these: 

Arita since the lady had three days for preparation of 
the lesson.” 

“One secret of her success was that she had given the reading 
lesson much home practice and preparation.”’ 

“She evinced thorough preparation.’’!§ 

In the Trenton Annual Report for 1870, we find this, ‘I recom- 
mend Miss — to Dr. Hart as a good teacher: first, because she 
learns her lesson.’’!® 

In 1875, the Ypsilanti, Michigan, State Normal School is reported 
as following this practice: 


16N, E. A. Report, 1880: ror. 

l6Page 34. 

WSabin, Henry, N. EF. A. Report, 1891: 505-525. 

Report of Commtssioner of Education (Henry Barnard), 1867-1868: 733. Also Hart, John 
Seely (Principal of New Jersey State Normal School), In the School Room, pp. 145-158, 1868. 

Wrsth Annual Report of the Trenton, New Jersey, State Normal School, p. 23. 


Lesson-Planning Previous to the Herbartian Movement 7 


“The critic has a meeting of student-teachers at the close of each 
day. . . . Then the following day’s work is sketched. Pupil 
teachers then during the evening frame the succeeding day’s work, 
and submit it to the critic the next morning for approval.’’” 

In 1877, J. C. Greenough reported the Rhode Island State Normal 
School as training students to the following class procedure: 

1. ‘‘Present the real object of study to the mind of the pupil, 
whether the object be mental or material. If the object is 
material and cannot be presented in the class room, present 
an illustration. 

2. “By pertinent questions, call attention to that of the object 
which is to be taught, thus directing the mind of the pupil ina 
natural or logical analysis, and leading him to express the 
ideas occasioned. 

3. “Train the pupils to the correct use of language in expressing 
their ideas and thoughts.’’! 

The Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1883-1884 con- 
tains the following relative to the training of teachers: 

“Tt is sometimes objected that here too much stress is placed 
upon methods. Such is perhaps the tendency, but those familiar 
with the work goingon . . . are aware that it is a tendency 
which is watched and restrained. The ideal of pedagogical train- 
ing, it must be remembered, is as yet imperfectly formed. 


Theconsiderationof . . . theorderand means by which they 
(the subjects of elementary instruction) may best be presented to 
the child’s attention . . . are the matters that are urged 


upon the attention of normal students.’’” 
In 1883, Charles DeGarmo mentioned the following i in a list of 
seven qualifications of student teachers: 
“2. He should learn to be skillful in imparting baeledie: 
4. He should learn to arouse even sluggish minds to self-activity. 
‘6. He should learn to acquire a comprehensive grasp of the teach- 
ing of any given subject. 
7. He should be able to ask and answer the question not merely 
how shall I teach this, but why I teach it at all.” 
This statement of Professor DeGarmo was made just previous 
to his study in Europe. 


é6 


sé 


®N. E. A. Report, 1875: 148, A Discussion. 

2N. E. A. Report, 1877: 158. 

2Report of Commissioner of Education (John Eaton), 1883-1884: CIXx. 
BN. E. A. Report, 1883: 47-54. 


8 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


The practice of writing a detailed plan by the pupil teachers in 
Hamburg was reported to the National Council of Education in 
1885,74 as was also a similar practice reported as being followed in 
the normal school at Frederickton, N. B., including the practice of 
writing daily plans.2> These facts would indicate an awareness of 
the possibility of training in definite lesson plans. 

In 1887, the State Normal School at Mankato, Minnesota, is 
reported as teaching daily preparation by the teacher.”® 

In this same year, Dr. J. H. Hoose, President of the Cortland, 
New York, State Normal School, advocated a developing method, 
proceeding by question and answer, using objects as substantial and 
collateral aids and appliances.”’ 

The growing discontent, already mentioned, with any scheme of 
instruction and preparation thus far proposed may be found among 
the normal school teachers. The following illustrates this: 

‘‘He (the critic) has no general principles out of which may per- 
petually spring new directive energies for new conditions. Topic- 
books, filled with the records of Oswego methods, will prove of no 
value. The poor empiric will find to his amazement that the given 
elements of his own problem are not found in terms of his topic- 
book—unless, perchance, he may be so blind as to deal out his 
abstracts and plans of lessons in regular order as so many recipes 
might be read out of a cookbook. 

‘The blanks and plans of work I have examined into in use in 
the normal schools of America suggest little attempt at a division. 
But to attempt any process of criticism without an adequate theory 
of the art of knowing is like trying to cure dyspepsia with plaster 
and liniment.’’*8 

Up to 1890, a few statistical studies of normal schools had been 
made.?® Some made no reference to the question of planning les- 


*%Committee on Normal School Education, C. C. Rounds, Chairman, N. E. A. Report, 1885: 
429-436. 

2Boyden, Albert C., N. E. A. Report, 1886: 389-392. 

2%McCleary, J. T., N. H. A. Report, 1887: 253-254. 

wN.E. A. Report, 1887: 98. 

28Gray, Thomas J., N. E. A. Report, 1890: 750-752. Further evidence of this search for prin- 
ciples and of discontent with methods in use may be found in the following: Parr; S. S., N. E. Re- 
port, 1888: 467-476; Allen, Charles H., N. E. A. Report, 1888: 496-503; Washburne, Lucy M., 
N.E. A. Report, 1888: 485-494. 

These include: Ogden, John, N. H. A. Report, 1874: 216-229; Hunter, Thomas, N. E. A. 
Report, 1884: 238-248; Taylor, A. R., N. E. A. Report, 1886: 393-402; Gray, Thomas J., NV. H. A. 
Report, 1887: 472-480; Addis, Wellford, Report of Commissioner of Education, 1888-1889, Chap. 
13: 354; Gray, Thomas J., N. E. A. Report, 1890: 751-752. 


Lesson-Planning Previous to the Herbartian Movement 9 


sons. Inthestudy of 1887, President Gray found that a few schools 
required a formal sketch of the lesson by pupils in the practice and 
method classes, zucluding full written questions and answers. Most 
required only a general statement of subject matter and plan. In 
the study by Mr. Addis, it was found that a surprisingly large 
number of schools were requiring ‘‘sketches of lessons containing 
formal questions and presumptive answers.’ The study of 1890 
revealed that some of the schools had formal blanks which they 
used in training teachers to prepare lessons. 


4. The Attitudes of Books of Pedagogy, Published in 
This Period, Relative to Lesson-Planning 


' A number of books were written in this period by leading edu- 
cators in which much detailed help was given to teachers, but we 
find in them no suggestions relative to planning lessons. Several 
books*! advise preparation of lessons by the teachers but give no 
hint as to what preparation means other than learning the subject 
matter, deciding what one shall stress, and possibly phrasing ques- 
tions or preparing apparatus. 

In 1887, James L. Hughes published a book on Mistakes in 
Teaching in which he condemned any stereotyped plan of pre- 
senting a lesson but advised careful preparation of an elastic plan. 
In 1884, A. P. Southwick wrote a book entitled A Quiz-Book 
on the Theory and Practice of Teaching, in which he stated that the 
essentials of a recitation are: (1) A brief reproduction of the pre- 
ceding lessons, (2) A brief reproduction of the preceding lesson, 
(3) Rehearsal and critical examination of the daily lesson, (4) 
Recapitulation of the daily lesson, and (5) Adequate preparation 
for the advanced lesson. This same year Edwin C. Hewett, 
president of the Illinois State Normal University, wrote A Treatise 


%See among others: Hurt, John Seely, op. cit.; Sypher, J. R., The Art of Teaching School, 
1872; Sweet, John, Principal of San Francisco Girls’ High School and Normal Class, Methods of 
Teaching. A Hand-Book of Principles, Directions, and Working Models for Common-School 
Teachers, 1880; Parker, Francis W., Notes of Talks on Teaching, 1883; Johonnot, James, Principles 
and Practice of Teaching, 1886; Howland, George, Supt. of Schools, Chicago, Practical Hints for 
the Teachers of Public Schools, 1889. 

%iSee among others: DeGraff, E. V., The School Room Guide to Methods of Teaching and School 
Management, 1877; Wickersham, James, School Economy, 1864; Phelps, Wm. F., The Teacher's 
Hand-Book, 1874; Raub, Albert N., Methods of Teaching: Including the Nature, Object, and Laws 
of Education, Methods of Instruction, and Methods of Culture, 1883; Gregory, John M., former 
President of State University of Illinois, The Seven Laws of Teaching, 1886; Greenwood, J. M., 
Supt. of Schools, Kansas City, Principles of Education, Practically Applied, 1887; Stewart, I. N., 
A Hand-Book for Teachers, 1889. 


fe) Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


on Pedagogy in which he stated that the recitation includes (1) 
Testing, (2) Instruction, (3) Reviewing, (4) Assigning, and (5) Drill- 
ing. ‘‘The teacher who is to give an oral lesson should go before 
the class with the matter clearly mapped out in his own mind, and 
perhaps drawn out in writing, in the form of a scheme. He should 
have clearly determined what points he proposes to reach, and 
in what order they should be reached.’’” 

The effort to find a better method of conducting the recitation, 
which began with the introduction of object teaching, finds its 
culmination, so far as lesson-planning is conceived as an aid, in 
the book by Arnold Tompkins, entitled Philosophy of Teaching,*® 
published in 1891. In these pages he offered reasons for very de- 
tailed planning and gave this careful analysis of the teaching 
process upon which the planning should be based: 


1. Purpose, or felt need of child. 


“The Subjective }2. Experience, mental steps required by need. 
teaching phase 3. Means of producing the experiencé, or mental 
process steps. 
Objective | 4 Means of producing the mental steps, 
phase 5. Mental steps actually taken by child. 
6. Need of child satisfied, or purpose realized.” 


Following this analysis, he gave by way of illustration a plan 
for teaching the idea, pyramid, to third-reader grade. The plan 
included: 


“Steps in the movement: 

1st step, leading to the generalization of the attribute, solid. 

2nd step, leading to the generalization of the attribute, having a flat base 

bounded by straight lines. 

3rd step, leading to the generalization of the attribute, peu ge by triangles 

meeting in a point. 

‘‘Each of these. steps consists of (1) Observing, (2) Abstracting attention 
from all other attributes and fixing on this one, (3) Comparing and contrasting, 
finding all differences and likenesses, (4) Generalizing the attribute under con- 
sideration. 

4th step, resulting into a synthesis of three elements in above three steps 

and formation of definition. Includes (1) Observing, (2) Compar- 
ing and contrasting, (3) Generalizing. 

5th step, inferring the unity of all the attributes to mean the one attribute 

of stability; the purpose of the form. This attribute should be ap- 
plied to historical pyramids, and to pyramidal objects.” 


82Page 177. 
8 Pages 29-35. 


Lesson-Planning Previous to the Herbartian Movement II 


Dr. Tompkins seems to have retained much of the theory of 


object teaching and blended this with the philosophy of inductive 
thinking. The publication of this plan came at the time when the 
Herbartian movement was beginning to be felt with its theory of 
the formal steps of instruction. - 


SUMMARY 


In the period previous to 1820, we can find little definite evidence 


of interest in instruction as such. 


NO A 


ie 


Scie 


In the period from 1820 to 1860 we find: 


A growing interest in teaching asa profession. 

The development of the idea of a daily schedule. 

Little thought of lesson preparation other than gaining knowl- 
edge of subject matter. 


In the period from 1860 to 1890, we find: 


An attempt to shape instruction by the theories of object 
teaching. 

In later years some dissatisfaction with object teaching because 
of its inadequacy in explaining the learning process and because 
of its tendency toward formalism. 

A search for principles underlying method of instruction. 

An attempt on the part of some to state a teaching procedure. 
The settling, by the normal schools, into a rather definite 
procedure in training teachers through observation and practice 
teaching. 

The development of a custom of writing lesson plans. 

The absence of any agreement as to the form of lesson plans. 
In later years a tendency to ask for the statement of the aim 
and detailed questions with probable or imagined answers. 


CHAPTER II 


HERBARTIANISM AS THE SOURCE OF THE 
FORMAL STEPS OF INSTRUCTION 


I. THE PSYCHOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY OF HERBART 
UNDERLYING HIS THEORY OF INSTRUCTION 


A search for the beginnings of formal lesson-planning requires 
that we trace Herbartianism to its source in Europe. John Fred- 
erick Herbart (1776-1841) is the inspiration of this movement. 
The formal steps of instruction were based upon his psychology 
and philosophy. 

Herbart taught that the soul originally has no content whatever. 
He called it a monad or real. The senses are the gateway through 
which comes mental life. This real is capable of but one sort of 
activity, that of entering into relation with the external world 
through the medium of the nervous system, in its efforts at self- 
preservation, in resisting the impacts of presentments. The re- 
sultants of such experiences are called ideas, or, more precisely, 
the stuff of which ideas are made. It is by such ideas that the 
individual grows. These in turn become the active agents of the 
individual. They are the source of activity. The process by which 
a new presentation finds its proper place in the aggregate already 
built up and in turn modifies it, is called apperception, from which 
we get the notion of apperceptive mass. The kind or quality of 
this depends upon the kinds of ideas acquired, which in turn depend 
upon what has entered through the senses.? Ideas once acquired 
tend to react to ideas similar in kind and to repel those dissimilar. 
Presentations through the senses are then the elements of mental 
life. 

The theory of instruction and the consequent work of the teacher 
are based upon this theory of reals, presentations, and ideas— 
the whole process of apperception. The child becomes what the 
ideas, presented to him, make of him.? Through careful selection 

1Ufer, Christian, Pedagogy of Herbart, pp. 2-5; Felkin, Henry M. and Emmie, The Science of 
Education. Introduction, p. 33; De Garmo, Charles, Herbart and the Herbartians, pp. 27-31; 
Adams, John, The Herbartian Psychology Applied to Education, pp. 46-71. 


*Adams, op. cit., pp. 46-71. 
8Felkin, op. cit., p. 36. 


Herbartianism and the Formal Steps of Instruction T3 


of the presentments which stimulate the child’s activity, we can 
make of him what we will.4 In view of this theory of the teacher’s 
responsibility, Herbart assigned to him two tasks: (1) the division 
of the material of instruction into method wholes, and (2) the plan- 
ning of a psychological way of presenting this material. There 
was the assumption that the proper material was predetermined 
by higher authority than the teacher, that he had no responsibility 
for its selection. 


II. THE FORMAL STEPS OF HERBART AS EMBODYING 
THE MOVEMENT IN INSTRUCTION 


Herbart only suggested what his followers developed and used 
extensively relative to the process involved in instruction. Learn- 
ing was summed up under two activities: 


1. The attainment of clear, distinct percepts, involving: 
a. The preparation of necessary, related, and already known 
material. 
b. The presentation of new ideas. 


2. The deduction from them of accurate general notions, involving: 
a. The comparison of all known cases. 
b. The extraction of the essential and generally valid. 


By adding one more step, the application of knowledge, the process 
of learning is completed. Thus, from this analysis, were deduced 
these steps: 


“Step I. Clearness: a. Analysis (preparation). 
3 b. Synthesis (presentation). 
Step II. Association. 
Step III. System. 
Step IV. Method (application, function).’’”® 


“The trinity of instruction embraces: (1) the apperception or 
assimilation of individual notions; (2) the transition from the in- 


‘Herbart recognized that the child is possessed of an innate endowment making for individual 
differences. But, with him, environment was the big thing and innate endowment interfered 
with the effect of environment. He felt that all individual differences were so much admixture 
of error, and that, if it were not for them, the ideas would accomplish much more. See (1) Herbart, 
Application of Psychology to the Science of Education, p. 59; (2) Herbart, Psychology, p. 120; and 
(3) Herbart, Letters and Lectures on Education, pp. 58, 76,103 f. 

5Mulliner, Beatrice C., Translation of Herbart’s The Application of Psychology to the Science of 
Education, Introduction, p. cv1; De Garmo, Charles, Essentials of Method, p. 55; Rein, W., Outlines 
of Pedagogics, p. 140. 

®Mulliner, op. cit., pp. CvI-cx; De Garmo, oP. cit., p. 88. 


14 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


dividual to the general (classes, rules, principles, maxims, etc.); 
(3) the return from the general notion to new fields of particulars.’’® 

After Herbart was called to Kant’s chair at Konigsberg in 1809, 
he established a pedagogical seminary with a practice school. 
This was the fulfillment of a long cherished theory’ that ‘in 
education, theory and practice should always go together.”’ In 
1832, Heinrich Gustav Brzoska, a student of Herbartianism, 
advocated the establishment of such a seminary at Jena, but died 
before accomplishing his purpose. Herbart died in 1841. In 1843, 
Karl Volkmar Stoy, a lecturer at Jena, founded an educational 
society among his students. Through this he succeeded in establish- 
ing a Seminar School in 1844. Thus Jena became the center of 
Herbartian doctrines under the leadership of Stoy. He left the 
University in 1866, returning in 1874, and the seminary became 
less active until Dr. W. Rein took up the work in 1886. The 
Pedagogical Seminary, as developed by Professor Rein, came to 
have an international reputation as a center of educational theory. 
At Leipzig, Ziller, another apostle of Herbartianism, developed a 
center of educational thought. To these two men we must look 
for the theory of instruction from which came lesson-planning by 
the formal steps. 


SUMMARY 


1. The lesson plan, consisting of formal steps, finds its beginnings 
in the theories of Herbart. 

2. Herbart’s suggestions relative to the procedure in instruction 
are based upon his psychology and his theories relative to the 
development of the individual. 

3. He taught that the soul is originally a monad, or real, possessed 
of one capacity, that of activity in resisting the presentations 
coming through the senses. Through this activity in self- 
preservation develop ideas from the material thus presented. 

4. These presentations become through the process of apper- 
ception the ideas which come in turn to constitute the active 
mind. Activity finds its source in these ideas. 

5. Desirable development of the individual depends upon: 
(a) presentation of the right material to develop right ideas, 
and (b) methods of presentation which will insure the most 
desirable apperception of the presented material. 


7Felkin, op. cit., p. 17. 


Herbartianism and the Formal Steps of Instruction 15 


The true method of instruction consists of four formal steps: 
(a) clearness; (0) association; (c) system, and (d) method. 

As a means of training teachers to apply his teachings in real 
situations, Herbart established a Pedagogical Seminary ac- 
companied by a practice school. 

Dr. Stoy, a student of Herbartian theories, established a 
pedagogical seminary in Jena, soon after the death of Herbart, 
which became a center of world interest in studying educational 
theory. . 

Dr. Rein, who later took up Dr. Stoy’s work at Jena in the con- 
duct of the seminary, and Professor Ziller at Leipzig became 
the apostles of Herbartianism, to whom America must look in 
tracing the history of lesson-planning as it developed in this 
country. 


CHAPTER III 


THE HERBARTIAN MOVEMENT IN EDUCATION 
IN THE UNITED STATES 


I. THE BEGINNINGS OF CONTACT WITH 
HERBARTIAN IDEAS 


During the third decade of the nineteenth century we find traces 
of an interest in the European methods of education. The decade 
from 1880 to 1890 shows a marked growth of interest in the 
schools of Germany.! In the last decade of the century references 
to study in Germany became a commonplace of an educational 
.magazine or of an educational conference. The files of the 
Educational Review, beginning in 1891, illustrate this quite forcibly. 

Prominent among those who went to Europe to study were 
Nicholas Murray Butler, who attended Berlin and Paris in 1884- 
1885; Charles De Garmo, who received the degree of doctor of 
philosophy from Halle in 1886; Levi Seeley, Leipzig, 1886; Charles 
McMurry who received his doctorate from Halle in 1887; Frank 
McMurry, Ph.D., Jena, 1889; Elmer Ellsworth Brown, Halle- 
Wittenberg, 1889; Herman T. Lukens, Jena, 1891; C. C. Van Liew, 
Ph.D., Jena, 1893; John Hall, Jena, 1892-1895; and James E. Rus- 
sell, Ph.D., Leipzig, 1894, and student at Jena, Leipzig, and Berlin 
1893-1895. In the Report of the National Education Association 
for 1887, page 467, we find Dr. De Garmo introduced to the audience 
as one just returned from his study abroad. This introduction 
was in connection with his address on ‘‘ The Normal School System 
of Germany.” Dr. Frank McMurry’s first recorded appearance 
before the National Education Association was in 1892, when he 
spoke on ‘The Value of Herbartian Pedagogy for Normal Schools.” 


II. THE METHOD USED IN DISSEMINATING HERBARTIANISM, 
ESPECIALLY THE THEORY RELATIVE TO THE FORMAL 
STEPS OF INSTRUCTION 


This group of men became the nucleus of the Herbartian move- 
ment in this country. They organized the Herbart Club at the 


1See the Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1883-1884 for a lecture by Dr. Stoy, one 
of the professors from Jena. The Report for 1885-1886 contains a ‘‘Report on German Normal 
Schools and Teachers’ Seminaries.” 


The Herbartian Movement in the United States L7 


meeting of the National Education Association at Saratoga in 1892. 
In 1893, thirteen members translated into English Dr. Karl Lange’s 
Apperception, a Monograph of Psychology and Pedagogy. In 1895, 
at the Denver meeting of the National Education Association, the 
National Herbart Society was organized, for ‘the aggressive dis- 
cussion and spread of educational doctrine.’’ The nine members 
of its governing board were Elmer Ellsworth Brown, Nicholas 
Murray Butler, John Dewey, Charles De Garmo, Wilbur S. Jack- 
man, Charles McMurry, Frank McMurry, Levi Seeley, and C. C. 
Van Liew. This society was supplanted in 1902 by the organiza- 
tion of the National Society for the Scientific Study of Education, 
later known as the National Society for the Study of Education. 
These men were very active in their efforts to make the teachings 
of the Herbartian School available in English and to apply the 
teachings to elementary school work in the United States. In 
addition to the translation of Lange’s Apperception, mentioned 
above, the following translations were made by various individuals: 


1890—Lindner, Gustav Adolf. Manual of Empirical Psychology. Translated 
by Charles De Garmo. Heath. 

1891—Herbart, J. F. Textbook in Psychology. Translated by Margaret K. 
Smith. Appleton. 

1893—Rein, W. Outline of Pedagogics. Translated by C. C. and Ida J. Van 
Liew. Swan, Sonnenschein and Company, London. 

1894—Ufer, Christian. Introduction to Pedagogy of Herbart. Translated 
by J. G. Zinser, authorized translation under the auspices of the Her- 

mopart- Club.) De. Co reath: 

1896—Herbart, J. F. A B C of Sense Perception and Minor Pedagogical 
Works. Translated by William J. Eckoff. D. Appleton. 

1901—Herbart, J. F. Outlines of Educational Doctrine. Translated by Alexis 
F. Lange, annotated by Charles De Garmo. Macmillan. 

1907—Compayré, Gabriel. Herbart and Education by Instruction. ‘Trans- 
lated by Maria E. Findlay. Thomas Y. Crowell and Company. 


A-number of books were written by these disciples of the Her- 
bartian theories. Prominent among these in modifying thinking 
among teachers in this country are: 


1889—De Garmo, Charles. The Essentials of Method: A Discussion of the 
Essential Form of Right Methods in Teaching. Heath. 

1890—McMurry, Charles. How to Conduct the Recitation and the Principles 
Underlying Methods of Teaching. A. Flannagan. 

1892—McMurry, Charles. The Elements of General Method Based on the 
Principles of Herbart. Public School Publishing Company, Bloom- 
ington, Illinois. 


18 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


1894—De Garmo, Charles. Herbart and the Herbartians. Scribners. 
1897—McMurry, Charles A. and McMurry, Frank M. The Method of the 
Recitation. Public School Publishing Company, Bloomington, Illinois. 


These Herbartians were interested in several of the fundamental 
doctrines taught by Herbart and his disciples. Those among them 
most interested in lesson-planning and the formal steps of instruc- 
tion were Charles McMurry, Charles De Garmo, and Frank 
McMurry. We find evidence of this interest in the forms of in- 
struction, in most of the things they wrote. They modified the 
steps in instruction as developed by Herbart and as changed by 
Rein. The following diagram is taken from Professor Rein’s 
Outlines of Pedagogics.? 


FORMAL STEPS 
I. Dorpfeld and Wiget 


te Perception (a) Introduction \ A : 
t 
(Percept) (}) Perception /f sae ae 
2. f{ Thought (a) Comparison )\ Ab 4 
tract 
\ (Notion) (6) Condensation J ine mas 
a. { Application 
(Power) 
Il. Herbart and Ziller III. Rein 
Smut led eucss oe Analysis 1. Preparation 
, (b) Synthesis 2. Presentation 
2 ( Association 3. Association 
3. 4 System 4. Condensation 
4. Method (Function) 5. Application 


With the above may be compared the designations given the formal steps by 
the following American writers :3 


I. De Garmo 

I. Apperception (1 
(Sense perception) 1 2 
Concrete Illustration ie 


Preparation—Analysis 
Presentation—Synthesis 


Induction, Association (So- 
cratic) 7ny 
Formulation of Notional—De- 
duction; from which we de- 
scend again to particulars. 
III. From Knowing to Doing—Application 


| 3. Comparing and uniting, or 


II. Abstraction | 
A. 


2Page 145. 
3De Garmo, Charles, Herbart and the Herbartians, p. 139. 


The Herbartian Movement in the United States 19 


II. C. A. McMurry 


Preparation j 
Presentation | 
3. Association and Comparison 
II. Elaboration { 4. Generalization or Abstraction 
5. Practical Application 


: : 1y 
I. Presentation { ; 


In The Method of the Recitation, already mentioned, the authors 
used the five steps just listed, as arranged by Dr. C. A. McMurry. 
That they believed these constituted the one correct order of 
instruction, is shown by the following: 

“Tf the leading thoughts thus far presented are true, there are 
certain steps in instruction that are universal. No matter what 
the study be, whether Latin, mathematics, science, or some other, 
there is a certain order that the mind must follow in acquiring 
knowledge. . . . Since these steps are passed through in 
this invariable order without reference to the nature of the subject 
matter presented, they are rightly called the Formal Steps of 
Instruction. They indicate the order of the movement of the 
mind, or of the forms through which thought must pass in reaching 
full maturity.’ 

In this book the authors used the double-column form for 
subject matter and method® and advocated making a detailed 
plan, including questions to be asked. As late as 1914, we find 
Dr. Charles McMurry, in his book Handbook of Practice for Teach- 
ers,© advocating close adherence to the plan made. 

These writers insisted in these early years upon the importance 
of ideas as the vital element in the teaching results as shown by 
the following: 

5 he who takes proper care of the ideas that enter the 
child’ s mind, seeing to it that they are thoroughly understood and 
interesting, is determining to a considerable degree the kind of 
person the child shall will to be. Of course he cannot determine 
it entirely, for the child has native tendencies that will assert them- 
selves, but he can do much toward it.’”” 

There was also the implication that the center of gravity in the 


4McMurry, Charles and McMurry, Frank, op. cit., p. 214. 

6Chapter 14. Macmillan Edition. 

6Pages 35-52. 

™cMurry, Frank, “The Value of Herbartian Pedagogy for Normal Schools,” N . £. A. Report, 
1892: 421-433. 


20 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


educational process is without the child—a theory closely in har- 
mony with the underlying psychology that growth comes through 
assimilation of presentations. This point of view is seen in the 
expressions: 

‘‘But unless they are told in some way what the recitation is 
aiming to accomplish, they are ignorant as to what they should 
search for; of course, then they are helpless and must be led along 
Dlindiy. it ios Gua 

* that aim is useless which does not immediately 
catch their attention and set them to work, and that one is worse 
than useless which seems to them unattractive and even repellant.”’ 

i these are the requirements of the aim which is to 
be given the children at the beginning of the recitation.” 

‘“‘As a rule the mistake is made of hastening altogether too 
rapidly to reach the exact wording that the book or teacher pre- 
fers. ie 

‘The teacher is more than a simple taskmaster, and his function 
as a taskmaster should remain in the background till other and 
better means of stimulus fail.’’® 

One other point of emphasis by these writers is their insistence 
upon care in wording questions in leading children through the 
formal steps. In this connection is noteworthy the fact that the 
first edition of The Method of the Recitation included a chapter on 
the Socratic method of teaching. Two quotations illustrate 
Dr. Frank McMurry’s early interest in thinking, and questioning 
as a stimulus to thinking: 

“Another thing the child would gather from this is that he is 
to understand that new problems are constantly rising before him 
to be solved.’’® 

taal whatever secures lively thinking, whatever guaran- 
tees the tendency to think, should rank as the highest direct object 
of the recitation.’ 

This early interest of Dr. McMurry in problem solving and 
careful questioning is to be related to the point of view which he 
has advocated since the beginning of the twentieth century relative 


8McMurry, Charles and McMurry, Frank, op. cit., pp. 99, 100, 103, 135, 182 and 313. Edition 
of 1897. 

IN. EZ, A. Report, 1891: 179. Fora similar point of view, held by James D. Hughes, Inspector 
of Schools, Toronto, Canada, see N. E. A. Report, 1897: ean -169. It is strikingly prophetic of 
some of the questions being discussed to-day. 

WN. E. A. Report, 1894: 843. 


The Herbartian Movement in the United States 21 


to problem solving" and to the form and content of the lesson 
plan.” 

Records of educational meetings in this decade from 1890 to 
1900 are replete with addresses on topics concerning this new 
movement in education. The formal steps of instruction were 
first discussed at the National Education Association in a round 
table meeting in 1891.8 Educational magazines likewise were 
utilized in furthering the discussion of these doctrines. In amount 
of space devoted to these questions in both the Educational Review 
and the reports of the National Education Association the peak 
year of this decade was 1896. 


SUMMARY 


1. The Herbartian ideas in education were brought to this country 
by a group of young men who studied in Germany in the de- 
cades centering about 1890. 

2. Byacampaign of translating the writings of noted Herbartians, 
writing books and articles developing the doctrines further, 
and speaking at public educational meetings, they created 
much interest in these theories in the last decade of the nine- 
teenth century. 

3. Those Herbartians especially interested in the formal steps 
of the recitation and the consequent theory of lesson-planning 
were Charles De Garmo, Charles McMurry, and Frank Mc- 
Murry. The latter two set forth their theories on lesson- 
planning in The Method of the Recitation. 

4. The Five Formal Steps came to be familiar terms in educational 
writings. 

Page 26. 


2Page 36. 
BN, E. A. Report, 1891: 835. 


CHAPTER IV 


THE RECEPTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF HER- 
BARTIANISM, PARTICULARLY THE FORMAL 
STEPS OF INSTRUCTION 


I. AS INDICATED BY: BOOK REVIEWS 


As an index of the reception of these Herbartian ideas, a few 
sources are interesting. One is the reviews of books published by 
the Herbartians. A few quotations will indicate the spirit: 

‘Competent judges are not likely to question that the most 
powerful stimulus which is now acting upon American educational 
thought bears the stamp of Herbart.’’! 

“It treats of questions that not only are burning but are getting 
hotter and hotter all the time. Outside an inner circle of Her- 
bartians, and a very small and select inner circle, too, not much 
has been known in this country about Herbart, and, to tell the 
truth, few have cared to know until recently. But the members of 
this little circle of elect have been persistent and even obstreperous; 
they have urged their views in season and out of season; certain 
that they had the truth in their possession, they have laughed at 
criticism and have been laughed at with equanimity. Now those 
who came to scorn are remaining to pray. ; 

‘Without entering into a discussion of the merits of this school, 
we cannot fail to acknowledge its influence is on the increase. Even 
those who cannot agree with all its doctrines ought to be glad to 
own that its influence for good has already been strongly felt.’ 2 


1Hinsdale, B. A.: Book Review of DeGarmo’s Herbart and the Herbartians in Educational Re- 
view, 1895, Vol. 9: 192-197. 

*Thurber, C. H., Editor: Book Review of DeGarmo’s Herbart and the Herbartians is School 
Review, Vol. III: 301-302 (April, 1895). 

’See also: (a) Russell, James E.: Book Review of Harris’s Herbart and Pestalozzt Compared 
in School Review, Vol. 1: 383 (June, 1893). (6) Thurber, C. H., Editor: Book Review of Herbart’s 
Science of Education as translated by Mr. and Mrs. Felkin; School Review, Vol. 2: 113 (February, 
1894). (c) Burk, Frederic: Book Review of The Method of the Recitation by Charles McMurry 
and Frank McMurry in School Review, Vol. 12: 429-433 (1904). 

This last review is most interesting. While Dr. Burk states that ‘‘the influence of Herbart 
is a tremendous factor in the educational world,’ he asserts that the ‘‘authors have been the 
leaders and chief propagandists of this insurrectionary movement for the last decade” and 
calls their doctrine, that the five formal steps constitute the only true order in learning, ‘‘a hot 
breath of medieval dogmatism to be blowing in the twentieth century.” 


The Reception of the Formal Steps of Instruction 23 


II. AS INDICATED IN EDUCATIONAL ADDRESSES, REPORTS, 
AND MAGAZINES 


In the Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1894-1895 
is an article by Dr. Rein on ‘‘'The New Education in Germany.” 
In the preface to it we find: 

“The recent movement among teachers in the United States 
toward the introduction of Herbart’s principles and practices of 
education has found many advocates and adherents. . . . There 
are at present more adherents of Herbart in the United States than 
in Germany.’ 

“T am, indeed, anxious to know just what my young friends 
mean.’’® 

In 1901, Dr. White published a book on The Art of Teaching. 
Concerning lesson-planning he said: 7 

“In determining the order and method of presenting different 
lessons, care should be taken to avoid running them into one mold. 
It is easy to adopt a general lesson-plan and then force the presenta- 
tion of every lesson into it. Such a procedure is almost sure to 
become a monotonous routine, devoid of spontaneity and life. 

“The lesson-plan was one of the early hobbies of the normal 
school. When the writer first began to visit schools, he found it 
easy to recognize the graduates of certain normal schools by their 
method of presenting lessons. . . . No two lessons permit 
precisely the same presentation. 

“ , .- . it is the teacher’s function to determine the aim 
and purpose of a given exercise. . . . The questions of pupils, 
when pertinent, should receive due attention, but these should not 
determine the subject matter of instruction. 

3 lessons vary greatly in subject matter, and hence the 
steps taken in teaching them must vary. All knowledge is not 
required by the same mental processes, and it follows that all 
knowledge cannot be taught in the same way or by the same steps.’”® 

“But no criticism approaches the trenchant, incisive thrusts 
with which Dr. W. T. Harris—that master in German philosophy 
and metaphysics—probes Herbartianism to the very core: ‘ 

4Vol. 1: 322-329. 

’White, E. E., N. E. A. Report, 1895: 346. This is taken from an account of a discussion in 
which “the young friends,’’ F. M. McMurry, Francis W. Parker, Charles DeGarmo, Charles 


McMurry, and Nicholas Murray Butler, had been the speakers. 
6Pages 109-116. 


24 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


we deprecate the tendency, very strong in some quarters, to seize 
upon the views of some leader of educational thought across the 
water and magnify them out of all proportion in the attempt to en- 
graft them on our American system of instruction. . . . Dr. 
Harris does a good service in pointing out so clearly Herbart’s 
weaknesses and errors.’”” 

‘‘Herbart and Herbartianism is rich in devices, artificial courses 
of study, forced adaptations of painfully selected excathedra de- 
tails to cruder generalizations of child life—schedules without 
end.’’® 

‘“‘A new psychology. . . , an accumulation of knowledge 

have created an activity in planning that has caused 
some to exclaim ‘Method run mad.’ 

‘We hear much of a school of Herbartians, . . . andsome 
there are who would seem to discover in these words and the 
processes they represent patent modes of thinking that would 
substitute for the natural laws of mental action.’’® 

“The mind and its ideas do not stand apart as the ‘formal steps’ 
assume, in harmony with the Herbartian psychology, in general. 
The lessons given by the Herbartians, illustrating the formal steps, 
are frequently quite numerous in their shiftings to make the steps 
work out; thus betraying the evil of the consciousness of formal 
method.’’? 

“Herbart’s individuality was hard and mechanical though his 
doctrine of apperception gave promise of something better and more 
wital. 34 

‘‘Herbart, regarding the soul as he did, looked chiefly to the 
instruction. He viewed pedagogy as an architectural system. 
According to Herbart’s psychology, that is the light in which 
instruction is seen, but objections to that psychology appear in 
the article under discussion. The Froebelian view is better, and this, 
back of the Herbartian pedagogy, makes the child a greater factor. 
The difference lies in the fact that we have, according to Froebel, 


TH ducation, Vol. 16: 175 (November, 1895). Editorial concerning the article by Dr. Harris, 
Commissioner of Education, in the same issue of the magazine. 

8Hailman, Mrs. Eudora L., Discussion, N. E. A. Report, 1895: 545-546. 

®Green, James M., Principal of State Normal School, Trenton, New Jersey, N. E. A. Report, 
1897: 67-73. 

WTompkins, Arnold, ‘‘Herbart’s Philosophy and His Educational Theory,’’ Educational Re- 
view, Vol. 16: 233-243 (1898). 

UButler, Nicholas Murray, ‘‘Status of Education at the Close of the Century,”’ N. E. A. Report, 
1900: 188. 


The Reception of the Formal Steps of Instruction 25 


a larger native force in the child than according to Herbart. Still, 
there might be an objection to the Froebelian view because of the 
ignoring of the personality of the teacher.’’!® 

When the Committee of Fifteen made its report to the National 
Education Association in 1895, a sub-committee of five, all city 
superintendents, made a report on the ‘Training of Teachers,’’ 
in which they ignored the Herbartain point of view. They recom- 
mended that courses in pedagogy should include discussion of the 
relative value of individual and class instruction, study of the art of 
questioning, review of the common branches, and the technique 
of investigation. They outlined the steps preparatory to practice 
teaching, including among them writing plans of lessons and series 
of questions, adding: 

‘“All this work should have its due proportion only or evil may 
result. For example, lesson plans tend to formalism, to self-conceit, 
to work in few and narrow lines, to study of subjects rather than of 
pupils.’’4 

In connection with the report of the Committee of Fifteen, the 
Commissioner of Education, in his report of 1896-1897, included an 
essay, entitled ‘‘The Latest Movements in Education in the United 
States,’’ by Dr. Schlee, of Germany. In discussing particularly the 
report of the sub-committee of the Committee of Fifteen on the 
“Correlation of Studies,” a report which was made by W. T. Harris, 
we find the following: 

‘The consequence was that after the report was read in Cleve- 
land, February roth to 21st, 1895, the debate disclosed an almost 
universal and violent opposition. However, the study of educa- 
tional questions, especially the Herbartian pedagogy in America, 
has received a stronger impetus than it would have received if the 
report had represented Herbart’s views. According to information 
received from an American educator, there have never been such 
animated discussions in the educational world in America as at 
present. The United States, it is said, resembles a hotbed of peda- 
gogical discussion, over which the gods must rejoice.’’!° 

2McMurry, Frank M., Discussion, Fourth Yearbook of the National Herbart Society, 1898: 114. 

%Other criticisms may be found, as follows: Reel, Miss Estelle, Supt. of Public Instruction, 
Wyoming, N. E. A. Report, 1897: 151-154. Welton, James, ‘‘A Synthesis of Herbart and Froebel,”’ 
Educational Review, Vol. 20: 109-122 (1900). Hall, G. Stanley, ‘‘Normal Schools, Especially 
in Massachusetts,” Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. 9: 180-192 (1902). Boone, Richard, Discussion, 
N. FE. A. Report, 1902: 213. Bolton, Frederick E., N. E. A. Report, 1907: 611. 


UN. E. A. Report, 1895: 236-253; also Educational Review, Vol. 9: 209-229 (1895). 
Vol. 11: 178-185. 


26 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


A recent comment is interesting as a closing criticism: 

“Then the ‘Five Formal Steps of Instruction’ were imported 
from Germany, opposing the teaching of isolated facts and grouping 
them around generalizations. While they effected a big improve- 
ment, they had one almost fatal defect; by accepting generaliza- 
tions or abstractions as the center of organization, they tended to 
make the entire instruction abstract. The problem plan tends to 
remedy this defect, as the problem is a very concrete, specific ex- 
pression of the learner’s need.’ 


Ill. AS INDICATED BY THE STUDIES MADE OF NORMAL 
SCHOOL PRACTICE IN TRAINING TEACHERS 


A third source of information relative to the reception and 
development of Herbartian ideas, especially relative to lesson- 
planning, is to be found in the studies of normal school practice 
in training teachers, which have been made since the introduction 
of Herbartianism. Some of these are in the nature of addresses, 
others in the nature of analysis of the returns of questionnaires. 

In 1907, Wm. C. Ruediger published an article on ‘Recent 
Tendencies in the Normal Schools of the United States.’’ The 
significant thing in this article for our study is the fact that nothing 
is said in any way related to the question of lesson-planning.”” 
The same is true of the study of Joseph M. Gwinn, on ‘‘ Tendencies 
in the Content of Courses of Study in State Normal Schools.’’!8 

In 1913, W. H. Sanders, of the State Normal School, of LaCrosse, 
Wisconsin, published the results of a study, entitled ‘“A Study of 
Professional Work as Presented in the State Normal Schools of the 
United States.’ For this study he sent questionnaires to one 
hundred sixty-three state normal schools, receiving eighty-one 
answers. Section IV of the questionnaire was devoted to lesson 
plans. Eighty furnished data on this section. Fifty-seven out 
of a total of seventy-two normal schools follow a definite form of 
plan which is practically the same for all subjects and for all grades. 

‘Summarizing the ‘essential’ points in a lesson plan as indicated 
by the different schools we have a total of forty-one. The number 
of ‘essential’ points varies in the different schools from one to seven. 


1éMcMurry, Frank M., Twenty-second Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 
1923, Part II: 295. 

WE ducational Review, Vol. 33: 271-287 (1907). 

18Fducational Review, Vol. 39: 156-164 (1910). 


The Reception of the Formal Steps of Instruction 27 


The fifty-seven schools that use a definite form of plan show ex- 
treme variations as to what constitute the essentials of the plan. 
This difference of opinion raises the question as to what are the 
really ‘essential’ points in a lesson plan. Is it advisable to leave 
the ‘essential’ points to individual supervisors or critics as re- 
ported by some schools? Does the absence of agreement in any 
school on ‘essentials’ encourage individuality as indicated by other 
schools? If the lesson plan hampers worthy individual activity, 
should not the entire scheme be abandoned? The almost universal 
use of the written lesson plan in normal schools indicates that it 
has a place in the training of teachers, but the data show that the 
lesson plan has not had the careful consideration necessary to 
make it yield its highest service.’’ 

The report includes a query relative to the importance of the 
inclusion in the plan of details enough to indicate that the student 
teacher understands the psychological processes taking place in 
the minds of the children. There was found almost every con- 
ceivable variety of opinion. The discussion may be summed 
thus: ‘The plan should show explicitly, rather than implicitly, 
the activity which the teacher proposes as a result of his pro- 
cedure.’’!9 . 

In 1913, Frances Jenkins reported finding that the normal school 
student was able to plan his work efficiently.” 

In 1915 F. J. Kelly and Ira O. Scott reported a study made in 
which they sent 100 questionnaires to state normal schools of the 
west and north. Sixty-eight replies were received. They reported 
the figures from the ‘‘median”’ school. The facts included such 
items as: (1) This school has 2.2 times as many children in training 
school as student teachers during the year. (2) It has 14 student 
teachers each year to each critic teacher. (3) It has about 5% 
times as many members in the entire faculty as in the training 
school faculty, and (4) It requires 160 hours of student teaching 
for graduation. However, nothing is reported relative to require- 
ments and training in lesson-planning.”! 

In 1917 A. M. Santee reported a paper prepared for a seminar 
in the University of Illinois, based upon a questionnaire sent to 


19Sanders, W. H., Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. 20: 48-55 (March, 1913). 

®Jenkins, Frances, ‘‘The Training of Teachers in Service: Adjusting the Normal-School 
Graduate to the City System,’’ N. E. A. Report, 1913: 448-452. 

2Fducational Administration and Supervision, Vol. 1: 591-598 (November, 1915). 


28 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


all public normal schools, of which seventy replies were received 
from thirty-five states. Relative to the preparation of lesson 
plans, he reports: 

‘All schools reporting require the preparation of lesson plans 
by the practice teacher. No uniformity exists in these require- 
ments. A few schools require plans in all subjects; more state that 
the requirement is made in certain subjects only, such as nature 
study, domestic science and manual training. The period of time 
covered by these plans varies widely. One week in advance seems 
to be the most frequent requirement, but one day in advance is 
common. Other reports of periods covered were: for the entire 
year; ten weeks; for the entire term; one semester; a unit of subject 
matter must be covered regardless of time; one month; and two 
weeks. A tendency is shown to require formal plans at first; 
then outlines only, until ability to outline well and teach by out- 
lines is developed; then to reduce the number of plans required.’ 

In the Eighteenth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study 
of Education, A. R. Mead reported a study made by means of a 
questionnaire sent to the schools and colleges of education and to 
the departments of education listed in the Bulletin of the United 
States Bureau of Education. Sixty-two reported that they require 
daily lesson-planning by practice teachers, four that they do not; 
38 reported that the supervisors plan daily, 17 that they do not, 
and 63 reported that both practice teachers and supervisors plan 
daily, and five that they do not.” 

In r919, the Eastern State Normal School of Illinois issued a 
bulletin by Dr. Lester M. Wilson, entitled ‘‘Training Departments 
in the State Normal Schools in the United States.’’ In response 
to a questionnaire sent out by him, Dr. Wilson received answers 
from thirty-seven heads of training departments and from forty- 
eight critic teachers, representing a total of thirty-nine schools. 

The least elaborate plan reported involves three heads: (1) 
What I am going to teach; (2) Why I am going to teach it; and 
(3) How I shall proceed. Dr. Wilson seems to think a more de- 
tailed plan advisable for training teachers and assumes that plan- 
ning is merely a means toward training, ‘‘since students, when 
they take regular position, will probably not write lesson plans.” 


~Santee, A. M., ‘‘The Organization and Administration of Practice Teaching in State Normal 
Schools,’’ School and Home Education, Vol. 37: 8-13 (September, 1917). 
%Part 1: 292-344. 


The Reception of the Formal Steps of Instruction 29 


However, he suggests the desirability of so teaching that the 
students will continue writing plans after graduating. He is of 
the opinion that “‘the simpler the form of plan used in the normal 
school the greater the possibility of habituating students to such 
plan-writing as will be continued after graduation.”’ 

He reports the following form as characteristic of the form used 
by many schools: 


Pe UeGetitl LIN Os ee es us PALO ay 2) Has Re aes Wea. 


Subject of Day’s Work 


I. Aim: (In definite statement, not topic form). 
II. Basis assumed: (That which the teacher assumes the pupil must know and 

Bis & does know as a basis for comprehending the new lesson). 

III. Preparation: (Recall of facts, creating atmosphere for particular work; 
stimulating class by giving incentive for day’s work; statement of pupil’s 
aim by teacher or pupils). 

IV. Presentation: 1. Thought steps, in statement forms, logical order, and 
general summary. 2. Methods or devices; pivotal questions and special 
devices numbered to correspond with parallel thought steps. 

V. Assignment: 1. For class study period. 2. General statement of 
problems for next teaching lesson.’’ 


Dr. Wilson mentions the fact that some schools excuse from 
plan-writing in the advanced stages of practice. He reports that 
‘‘plans are submitted for the approval of critic teachers from 
two days to a week in advance of the teaching of the lesson.’’™ 

From a study of the problems of conducting practice teaching, 
H. C. Pryor made a proposed series of thirty-one graded tasks for 
inducting students into teaching. Number 26isas follows: 

“Planning Work. For the day, week, or longer period, at first, 
in codperation with regular teacher. The student teacher should 
plan for individual instruction, supervised study, group teaching, 
extra-curricular activities, and playground work as carefully as for 
‘responsible room teaching’.’’?5 

Ina study entitled ‘‘ Virtues and Defects of Normal School Train- 
ing as Seen by Graduates of Two, Five and Ten Years’ Service,”’ 
J. A. Kirkley gave this among the virtues: 

“The graduates of eight and ten years ago called attention to the 
value of the study of methods and management, the history of 


*%The Normal School Bulletin (Charleston, Illinois), No. 66, Oct. 1, 1919. 
25Educational Administration and Supervision, Vol. 5: 411-422 (November, 1919), or Vole 
8: 373-382. 


30 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


education, the philsophy of education, and psychology, and to the 
value of the practice of requiring the student to work out a well- 
organized plan for presenting a lesson to a class.’’ 


William B. Aspinwall reported similarly on ‘“‘ The Value of Student- 
Teaching in a Teacher-Training Course, as Judged by Graduates of 
One, Two, Three, and Four Years’ Experience,’ from which we 
quote the following: 

“I admit most frankly that much time is saved by 
having a definite plan of a lesson and the teaching of it is more 
interesting and easier to the teacher and the children profit by this 
preparation and teaching. 

“The lesson in all its parts—preparation, planning, teaching, 
and its results have been of course dependent upon the work re- 
quired and upon the supervision. 

“In this (student teaching) I learned to economize time in plan- 
ning my work for my classes. . . . I know the making of plans 
daily for a year helped me to form a habit so that today I can plan 
a lesson many times on a moment’s notice. 

ji During that time (in student teaching) I learned how 
to plan work. I also learned the value of having a definite plan of 
work for the week or month for economizing time in teaching as 
well as for obtaining definite results. 

Hi Because there were a certain number of lesson plans 
to be made every night and because it was necessary to have them 
fully and clearly done and ready for inspection by a supervisor at 
any time, I learned to economize time in preparing them. 

: It (the experience in student teaching) has been of 

great help to me in saving time in the preparation of lessons. 
In planning my work I learned to make my plans definite if I wished 
to get results; to plan the lesson in a logical manner and in as in- 
teresting a way as possible. I found that much illustrative mate- 
rial was necessary, and reference books for both teacher and pupils 
were things to be thought of in preparing the lesson. My experience 
helped me in obtaining definite results by teaching me always to 
have an aim, to accomplish this aim through interest, and by giving 
me a knowledge of several methods by which I might obtain the 
best results. } 


%*[bid., Vol. 7: 103-110 (February, 1921) 


The Reception of the Formal Steps of Instruction 31 


‘é 


By actual practice, I acquired a clear understanding 
and a workable basis for the preparation of my lessons, and the 
methods of teaching them. 

4 I have tried to plan every lesson I have taught by 
the standards which were held during student-teaching.’’”” 


IV. AS INDICATED BY THE CATALOGUES AND OTHER PRINTED 
MATTER ISSUED BY SOME NORMAL SCHOOLS 


The Oswego Normal School seems to have been one of the first 
to use the formal steps of instruction. Ina circular issued in 1891 
and also in a circular issued in 1892 we find a statement concerning 
the enaetany ads course. eens the additional topics to be dis- 
cussed i 1S: 4 (EXC: 


‘4. The four steps of instruction: 
a) Clearness 
b) Comparison 
c) System 
d) Philosophical application.’’?® 


On the other hand, the Report of the State Normal School at Tren- 
ton, New Jersey, for 1893, does not indicate any acceptance of Her- 
bartianism or the steps of instruction. The detailed outlines of all 
its courses are given, including psychology, history of education, 
and science of education. In discussing the work of the practice 
school we find, ““The Practice Teaching is so arranged that experience 
in teaching is given to each student in each of the common branches. 
This experience consists in observing the regular teacher, preparing 
plans for teaching subject to the approval of the critic teacher, and 
actually teaching, both in the presence and absence of the regular 
teacher.’’?° 

In 1895 the Kansas State Normal School issued a booklet en- 
titled ‘‘General Directions for Pupil Teachers in the Training 
Department.” In it we find the following: 

“The outlines of lessons which all are asked to prepare should, as 
the blanks indicate, show both the matter to be given and the 
manner of teaching it. 

27Educational Administration and Supervision, Vol. 7: 267-273 (May, 1921). 

28Circular of the State Normal and Training School, Oswego, New York, p. 28, 1891. Also 
Circular of the State Normal and Training School, Oswego, New York, p. 26, 1892. 


°Thirty-ninth Annual Report of the Trenton, New Jersey, State Normal School, 1893, Part 1, 
p. 86, 


42 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


“The outline of lessons will show just what is to be the matter 
and manners of the recitation of each day, giving the date and day 
of week. It will show also what portion of the regular class text- 
book is to be covered by each lesson and will give definitely any 
other sources from which matter may be chosen for any particular 
lesson. k 

“Tt is expected that something will be done in the matter of 
methods in every outline. . . . Indicate briefly with each day’s 
lesson anything special planned for conducting that recitation.’ 

A copy of the form in use in the Kansas State Normal School in 
the latter part of the last decade of the nineteenth century indicates 
the two columns, the one ‘‘On Matter,’’ the other ‘‘On Method.” 
Nothing further is given to suggest the following of the five formal 
steps. 

The annual catalogues published by the Illinois State Normal 
University, at Normal, Illinois, from 1893 to 1898 inclusive, state 
that the pupil teachers must submit plans of work to their critic 
teachers for criticism and make such revision as is necessary. In 
the catalogue for 1898-99, under the description of the course in 
pedagogy we find the following: 

‘3. Some time is given to a discussion of the general laws under- 
lying method of instruction (or the so-called ‘Formal Steps of 
Instruction’’) and of kindred pedagogical principles bearing upon 
the work of the teacher in the classroom. It is the aim of this work 
to show what the laws of thought are that determine how the 
teacher should present a subject to the class. For this work 
McMutrry’s Method of the Recitation is used as a text.” | 

The catalogue published in 1899-1900 states that the plans for the 
recitations must be handed in one week in advance. 


V. AS INDICATED BY THE WRITINGS AND ADDRESSES OF THOSE 
PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN TRAINING TEACHERS 


As the Herbartian doctrines became promulgated throughout 
the United States, we find an increasing number of people, engaged 
in training teachers, discussing theories relative to lesson-planning.*! 
An examination of these addresses and writings reveals an accept- 
ance of planning as a means of training student teachers. Several 


Kansas State Normal School, General Directions for Pupil Teachers in the Training Departe 
ment, p. 4. 


31See footnote on page 33. 


aA Ni ee | a ee 


The Reception of the Formal Steps of Instruction a2 


definitely stated that the requirement of written detailed plans 
should be withdrawn as soon as ability is demonstrated. Some 
required detailed written plans at first, followed by skeleton plans 
later. Nearly all endorsed giving the student freedom in following 
the plans later. Dr. Sheldon*! definitely stated that plans for a 
given week should be handed in the previous week. Dr. Cook was 
the only one of those listed *! who mentioned writing a plan accord- 
ing to a form and he endorsed it. 

In view of the fact that the men who are chiefly responsible for 
bringing the formal steps of instruction to this country came from 
the Normal University, at Normal, Illinois, it 1s interesting to note 
that the report of the committee from that faculty stated that the 
plan should include 


1. The topic to be presented. 

2. The lesson movement. 
a. Mental 
b. External 

3. What the student expects this lesson to do toward the de- 
velopment of the child. 


The article by Professor Hancock *! is noteworthy in that he 
proposes five different types of plans, depending upon the type of 
work, and stresses the problem-solving aspects of all planning. 


314 mong others, these are significant: 
Stout, Kate D., Trenton, New Jersey, Normal School, N. EZ. A. Report, 1895: 700-706. 
Hall, John W., ‘‘Professor Rein’s Practice School at Jena and Its Lessons for American Normal 
Schools,” N. E. A. Report, 1896: 644-649. 
Sheldon, E. A., ‘‘The Practice School as a Public School,’’ N. EZ. A. Report, 1896: 651-659. 
Noss, Theodore B., Discussion, Educational Review, Vol. 14: 379-383 (November, 1897). 
Report of the Committee on Normal Schools, N. E. A. Report, 1899: 836-882. 
Hall, John W., ‘‘Discussion of Report of Committee on Normal Schools,” N. E. A. Report, 1899: 
896-899. 
Brown, Marion, Principal of New Orleans Normal School, NV. E. A. Report, 1899: 902-903. 
Cook, John W., President of State Normal School, DeKalb, Illinois, N. H. A. Report, 1900: 276-287. 
Committee of the Faculty of the State Normal University, Normal, Illinois, ‘‘The Relation be- 
tween Theory and Practice in the Training of Teachers,” 2nd Yearbook of the National Soctety 
for the Study of Education, 1903, Part II: 9-38. 
Harwood, Samuel E., ‘‘The Training School as a School of Observation and Practice,” N. E. A. 
Report, 1909: 557-561. 
Hancock, John A., State Normal School, Mankato, Minnesota, ‘‘The Place of Reasoning in 
Teaching,” Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. 18: 184-196 (1911). 
Willard, J. Monroe, Principal of Philadelphia Normal School for Girls, N. E. A. Report, 1912: 
890-896. 


34 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


VI.. AS INDICATED BY THE ELABORATION AND MODIFICATION 
OF THE FIVE FORMAL STEPS IN THE PERIOD SINCE I900 


Attention has already been called * to the insistence of Charles 
McMurry in his Handbook of Practice for Teachers that the teacher 
must hold firmly to his plan. In this same book we find his use of 
the term ‘pivotal questions.’ In the files of the Atlantic Educational 
Journal for 1907-1909 we find he edited some lessons on Industrial 
Geography. In the first of these he used as form, the statement of 
the teacher’s aims, the preparation, and the presentation. In each 
of the last two use is made of questions and some answers. The 
later lessons abandoned any form further than topical headings. 

Similarly, it is interesting to note in writings of John W. Halla 
shift from the formal steps, advocated in the last decade of the last 
century, to lesson plans consisting of the statement of the aim and an 
account describing or indicating the procedure. Others given by 
him have not even the aim stated. 

The period from 1900 to 1915 is characterized by much activity 
in elaborating and.modifying the formal steps. In 1905 Wm. C. 
Bagley published The Educative Process, containing a very careful 
elaboration of the formal steps. Similarly George D. Strayer’s 
Briefer Course in the Teaching Process, published in 1911, gives a 
detailed discussion of the formal steps. The files of the Atlantic 
Educational Journal from 1907 to 1918, referred to above, indicate 
an interesting development from the adherence to the formal steps. 
The early issues contain a number of lessons. Each of these early 
numbers also contains a general outline, to be followed in writing a 
plan. We quote this general form: 


‘General Outline for Topic Plans 


(1) Title (2) Previous Related Topics (3) Grade (4) Teacher’s Main Aims 


I. Subject Matter. 

Old experience that will help the learner 
to appreciate the new. (That ex- 
perience out of which the pupil builds 
his aim.) 

N. B. Place the word Assignment 
before parts of the topic to be worked 
out as study. Word these questions 


%2Page 19. 


I. Method of Teaching. 

Questions or work to help the pupils 
recall such part of their past experience 
as will cause them to desire to under- 
take, understand, and appreciate the 
new. 


N. B. Place the words Testing As- 
signment before questions and exercises 


= 


= 


The Reception of the Formal Steps of Instruction 35 


and exercises as they aretobe written which are intended to test pupils’ 
in the Assignment Note Books. . understanding of the assigned work; 
II. Subject Matter. i. e., to see if he is ready to study for 
The newer experiences in order of and by himself. (Pupils’ aim developed. 
familiarity: in the best order of ex- t should be stated here in the plan.) 
periencing. II. Method of Teaching. 

Ill. Results. Questions and work to cause the 
The results expected from the work on Children to experience the newer 


this topic. (These need not be im- Work. 
mediately forthcoming.) _N.B. Sameas N. B. of 1 above. 


III. Method of Testing. 

Questions and work to test the results 
of I and II. (Review should be re- 
view rather than merely re-statement, 
and will often serve as part of I of 
another related topic.) 


Probable Number and Length of Periods Required.’’® 


In later numbers lesson plans are given of varying degrees of 
_simplicity. Some contain the aim, followed by the procedure. 
Others contain the aim, followed by a simple statement of what is 
done, usually in narrative form. Some are merely outlines of sub- 
ject matter. Others begin with an outline of subject matter which 
is followed by a series of questions accompanied by some answers, 
intended to indicate the movement in developing the lesson. 
Others are characterized by a statement of the detailed subject 
matter, preceded by the statement of the general aim, the teacher’s 
aim, and the pupils’ aim. Running through nearly all is a tendency 
to indicate procedure by a series of questions. 

In r915 Dr. Lida B. Earhart published her book, Types of Teach- 
ing, in which she gave some suggestive lessons built on the formal 
steps of the Herbartians. But she clearly indicated that the five 
formal steps were not suited to all types of lessons. The book 
contains suggestions for other types of lessons, varying far from 
the formal steps. 

In 1909, Dewey published his book, How We Think, in which 
he compares the analysis of a complete act of thought with the 
five formal steps, showing the marked resemblances. But ‘he 
points out that there is a marked difference in that, in the thought, 
the problem is the center. He further states that there is no pre- 
scribed order in which the steps occur, and hence they should not 
prescribe the course in developing a lesson. 

Vol. III-IV: p. 10 (September, 1907). 


36 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


Stephen S. Colvin, in 1919, published an article discussing his 
experiences in training teachers by means of requiring lesson plans. 
He advocated a plan made up of a carefully stated aim, a detailed 
account of method, consisting largely of questions that probably 
will be needed, and a statement of the results, written after teaching 
the lesson.*4 

Perhaps the most interesting modification from the formal steps 
is the statement of Frank McMurry in the winter of 1922, to his 
students, that no one needs a piece of paper larger than three inches 
by three inches on which to write a lesson plan. This, together 
with his insistence upon the teacher’s preparation resulting in the 
formulation of two, three, or more pivotal questions to be used in 
guiding the class discussion, shows a conception of lesson-planning 
far removed from the formal.*® 

In Monroe’s Cyclopedia of Education, published in 1914, Henry 
Suzzallo describes the lesson plan as a helpful agency in training 
inexperienced teachers, but condemns the writing of detailed plans 
by trained and experienced teachers. He says that such a teacher 
needs only a knowledge of the purposes of the school and a scholarly 
command of the fundamental principles of teaching and for the 
rest can depend upon insight and inventiveness in the face of class- 
room situations. 

One other aspect of the problem of lesson plans is the attempt 
by some to make the series of plans a record of what is accomplished. 
As early as 1883, DeGarmo described a procedure in training teach- 
ers in which the student teacher was required to keep a careful 
diary of all his plans and the work.** Dr. Thomas Stowell, prin- 
cipal of the State Normal School at Potsdam, New York, suggested 
a similar idea when he proposed a method of retrospection of his 
work by the student teacher at the close of each recitation.*” 

Dr. Wm. B. Aspinwall of the Worcester State Normal School, 
similarly, pointed out the value of such a record when he suggested 
a weekly written report or review.*? A recent article on lesson plans 
by Stephen Colvin emphasized this value to be derived from a series 


34Fighteenth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I: 190-212. 

35Here and in the quotation given on page 18, Prof. McMurry represents different points of 
view and emphasis. This divergence indicates two periods in his educational career: (1) Her- 
bartianism and (2) Problem solving. 

3%N, H. A. Report, 1883: 47-54. 

37N. H. A. Report, 1894: 115-121. 

38H ducational Review, Vol. 63: 379-394 (May, 1922). 


The Reception of the Formal Steps of Instruction 37 


of lesson plans, in that by writing the results after each lesson the 
series becomes a diary of the work done and thus objectively reveals 
to the student what he has accomplished.®*® 


SUMMARY 


1. As indicated by a survey of the book reviews, educational 
articles, and addresses, reports, statistical studies of normal 
school practice, normal school catalogues, and expressed 
attitudes of normal school teachers, there was much criticism 
but a general acceptance of much that the Herbartians taught. 
Normal schools quite generally taught the five formal steps of 
instruction. 

2. The first decade of the twentieth century shows a marked 
development of the formal steps, with emphasis upon the use 
of questions in unfolding the subject matter. 

3. There is evidence in the first and second decades of the twen- 
tieth century of a growing tendency to abandon the formal 
steps, adhering to parts, notably the aim, accompanied by a 
developmental procedure consisting largely of questions. 

4. The functions of lesson-planning which appear are: 

a. An evidence to the critic teacher of readiness to teach a 
lesson. 

6b. An aid in the preparation of the student teacher. 

c. An aid to the supervisor of teachers in service. 

d. An index and record of work covered. 

5. There isan opinion held by many engaged in training teachers 
that lesson-planning should be a temporary means to be 
abandoned when skill in teaching has come. 

6. A few have advocated the policy of keeping a record or diary 
of work accomplished in connection with planning. ! 

7. All discussions found of planning of lessons assume that the 
center of gravity is in the teacher or subject matter, not in the 
child. 


%Highteenth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I: 190-212. 


CHAPTER V 


PRESENT ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES 
RELATIVE TO LESSON-PLANNING 


I. THE METHOD OF SECURING THE DATA 


To determine what the present attitudes and practices are relative 
to the various problems involved in connection with lesson-planning, 
three questionnaires were prepared. These questionnaires were: 
(1) Form A, addressed to state normal schools and state teachers’ 
colleges in the United States; (2) Form B, addressed to classroom 
teachers; and (3) Form C, addressed to those having responsibility 
for the work of teachers—administrators, supervisors, principals, 
and critic teachers. These were sent out in November, 1922. 
They were as follows: 


FORM A. FOR NORMAL SCHOOLS 


Name of school. 
Location. 
Do you teach your students, taking teacher-training, how to plan lessons? 
Do you require students to write lesson plans: 
a. In theory courses? 
b. In practice teaching? 
5. Indicate the form of lesson plan you use by checking items descriptive 
of what you use, or by adding other items: 
A printed form. 
Details of subject matter and method written out. 
“Five Formal Steps’’ followed. ‘ 
Plan consisting of a list of the items to be taken up in the period. 
Plan consisting of an outline of the subject matter. 
All questions to be asked stated specifically. 
Plan consisting of a set of pivotal questions. 


pW N # 


SESS GOSS 


& fo) 2) o Se, er ele faiie! p/ ‘lel sie. 0i (0 pew) 6 16) @) 6) te lel Te |e, ere toiled le Ob) 18 Ol me ue) 6) ele); Pe URN wl e (Ore Berm e Le (rw le te nme 


(Ifa Beinited form is used, a copy will be greatly appreciated.) 
. How long in advance of teaching the lesson must the plan be made? 
7. . How closely do you require that the plan be followed in the teaching of 
the lesson? 
8. When does a time come at which you excuse the student teacher from hand- 
ing in lesson plans? . 
9. From writing them? 


Io. 


Il. 
12. 


nab wWN 


Present Tendencies Relative to Lesson-Planning 39 


What difference do you make in your requirements for plans for geography 
and history as compared with the requirements for plans for spelling and 
penmanship, for example? 

In what course or courses is lesson-planning taught? 

How much time is given to teaching lesson-planning? 


FORM B. FOR TEACHERS 
Sex. 


_ Present position, or last if not at present teaching. 


Place located. 
Number of years of experience in. teaching. 


Education and professional training. 


KIND OF SCHOOL | WHERE LOCATED | NO. YEARS DIPLOMA DEGREE 


High School 
Normal School 
College 

Art School 
Business School 
Vocational School 
Music School 
Summer School 
Other Study | 


6. 
af 


10. 


Were you taught to plan your lessons before teaching? 
Please indicate the form of plan required: 
a. <A printed form. 
Details of subject matter and method included. 
‘Five Formal Steps’’ followed. 
Plan consistirg of a list of items to be taken up in the period. 
Plan consisting of an outline of the subject matter. 
All questions to be asked stated specifically. 
Plan consisting of a set of pivotal questions. 


So Shs AD So 


Ce eee bl bis) eUe ge 8 6 ©, (ee Gus, Os) Bi we 8 fe) se ole ie OR Sie 6 (eo @ aie « 8 6 Lee we) ye ae 8 6) 8) 8) 2 6 0) 8 She 


How one i in advance of teaching the lesson were you required to make the 
plan? 

Did there come a time when you were permitted to teach without handing 
in plans? If so, when? 

Do you now plan? 


40 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 

11. If so, what of the items under ‘‘7”’ tell the form you use? 

12. How long in advance of teaching it, do you now plan your lessons? 

13. How closely do you follow your plan in teaching? 

14. If you have abandoned the methods of planning you were trained to use, 
will you state your reasons? 

15. Are you required to plan? To hand in plans? 

16. To whom are you to hand your plans? 

17. How much freedom do you have to vary from the plan in actually teaching 
the lesson? 

18. If you were free to do as you wished, would you plan? 

19. If so, what sort of plan would you write? Use items in ‘‘7”’ to indicate 
answer. 

20. What do you advise for training young teachers relative to lesson-planning? 
FORM C. FOR SUPERINTENDENTS, SUPERVISORS, 
PRINCIPALS *CRITIG TEACHERS, BiG, 

Epa ex. 
2. Present position, or last if not now teaching. 
3. vb lace. 
4. Number of years of experience in classroom teaching. 
5. Number of years of supervisory and administrative experience. 
6. Education and professional training. 
KIND OF SCHOOL PLACE LOCATED NO. YEARS | DIPLOMA | DEGREE 


High School 
Normal School 
College 

re School | 
Business School 
Vocational School 


Summer School 


Other Study 


7- 
8. 


Do you believe teachers should be required to plan their lessons? 
If so, please indicate the form you advise: 
a. A printed form. 
Details of subject matter and method included. 
“Five Formal Steps”’ followed. 
Plan consisting of a list of items to be taken up in the period. 
Plan consisting of an outline of the subject matter. 


s,s Aas 


ee eee ee 


Present Tendencies Relative to Lesson-Planning 4I 


f. All questions; to be asked, stated specifically. 
g. Plan consisting of a set of pivotal questions. 
ea eee ee MT Eas Citic ts Re ie ee ted ee MIR MEAP gh ocd ab We eg ack os 
(If a printed form is used, a copy will be greatly appreciated.) 
9. How far in advance of teaching should the lesson be planned? 

10. How closely should the plan be followed in teaching? 

11. When would you release a teacher from the lesson-planning requirement? 

12. Do you advise training prospective teachers to write plans? 

13. If so, indicate the form you advise by using items under ‘‘8”’. 

14. Were you trained to write lesson plans? 

15. When engaged in classroom teaching, did you plan? 

16. How far in advance of teaching the lesson? 

17. What difference do you make in your thought on plans for geography and 
history as compared with the plans for penmanship and spelling, for 
example? 

18. What do you find is the attitude of classroom teachers toward lesson- 
planning? 


The form A questionnaire was sent to the one hundred seventy- 
three state teachers’ colleges and state normal schools, listed in 
U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1922, No. 8. “Statistics of 
Teachers’ Colleges and Normal Schools, 1919-1920, Prepared by 
the Statistical Division of the Bureau of Education.’”’ Form B was 
sent to former students of Teachers College, selected so as to dis- 
tribute the number somewhat evenly in all states, accompanying 
each bunch of questionnaires with a letter asking the one addressed 
to ask teachers in service whom they could reach to fill out theblanks. 
Some also were filled by students of education in college, who had 
been classroom teachers in their last positions. Form C was sent 
out by a method of selection similar to that used in sending Form B. 
There were sent out 2559 blanks of Form B, and 1103 were returned 
and usable. There were sent out 1371 blanks of Form C, and 540 
were returned in such condition as to be usable. 


II. THE FINDINGS FROM THE INVESTIGATION 


From the returns, the following conclusions have been drawn:! 


1. Relative to Normal School Practice 


In so far as the seventy-two normal schools answering the 
questionnaire are representative of the entire number of normal 
schools, we may conclude that: 

1Tables showing detailed findings from the questionnaires may be found in the bound, type- 


written copies of the manuscript of this book, filed in the library of Teachers Coliege, Columbia 
University. 


42 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


1. Normal schools are teaching their students to write lesson 
plans, (a) to a large extent in the theory courses; (0) in all practice 
teaching. 

2. There is a wide diversity in the form of plan used. Writing 
out details of subject matter and method has the greatest fre- 
quency—62.5% of the schools reporting it. A plan using pivotal 
questions has considerable prominence, being reported as used by 
55.6% of the schools. The outline of subject matter is in almost 
as great favor, being reported by 52.8% of the schools. The use 
of a list of items to be taken up is in almost as much favor, being 
reported by 41.7% of the schools. 

A notable item is the fact that only 19.4% report using the five 
formal steps, and 9.7% report using a modification of the five formal 
steps. Of these only 2.8% use these formal steps exclusively. It 
is further to be noted that the requirement that all questions to be 
used in the lesson be stated specifically, is made by only 15.3% of 
the schools. 

3. There is no agreement in practice relative to the time in 
advance that a plan must be handed in. The requirement of one 
week in advance still leads, but the per cent is only 13.9. The one 
day requirement is represented by 9.7%. Combining the one-day 
and two-day requirements, we have a total of 20, or 28.1%. This 
does not include those that block out in advance and then make 
daily detailed plans. The tendency, then, seems to bear toward 
preparation a short time in advance of teaching. 

4. While some of the Herbartians advocated strict adherence 
to the plan, we find the normal schools are not doing sonow. They 
seem to be allowing varying degrees of freedom. ‘The most notable 
response is the number who report ‘‘As needs develop”’ to be the 
guiding principle. 

5. There is a strong tendency, 40.3%, to require that plans be 
handed in throughout the period'of practice. The significant answer 
is, however, the 34.7% who report that they excuse students from 
handing in lesson plans when they show ability. This number, 
combined with these 22.2% who usually excuse near the end of the 
period of practice, makes a total of 56.9% who do excuse. This 
may be interpreted as indicating a tendency to look upon written 
plans as a means toward expediting practice teaching, or as a 
means toward learning how to teach,—not as an essential to good 
teaching. 


« - is é 
—_ 


Present Tendencies Relative to Lesson-Planning 43 


6. The practice of excusing pupils from writing plans seems less 
common than the practice of excusing them from handing in plans. 
There are 58.3% who never or seldom excuse entirely from writing 
as compared with 40.3% who excuse from handing in; 26.3% ex- 
cuse from writing according to ability as compared with 34.7%, 
who for this reason excuse from handing in plans. Combining 
varied answers, we have 40.2% who do excuse from writing as 
compared with 56.9% who excuse from handing in. 

7. There is a tendency to recognize a difference in the plan 
requirements for such subjects as history and geography on the one 
hand and penmanship and spelling on the other, making the former 
more detailed, and giving more attention to the organization and 
development of subject matter, thus recognizing a difference in the 
nature of the teaching in these two classes of subjects. 

8. There seems to be no uniformity in the courses in which 
lesson-planning is taught. Apparently it is scattered throughout 
the normal school curricula. ‘Twenty normal schools have it taught 
in only one course. 

9. The time given to teaching lesson-planning varies widely, 
forty-six different answers being given. There is apparent no law 
controlling the matter. 


2. Relative to the Attitudes and Practice of Classroom Teachers 


The teachers answering this questionnaire were fairly well 
distributed geographically, representing all but ten of our states 
and some foreign countries. The group is largely a group of women, 
as is characteristic of the teachers of our elementary schools. They 
are teachers of sufficient experience to be possessed of attitudes and 
ideas on the question of lesson-planning, the median of their ex- 
perience being 8.g++ years, Q: being 5.1 years, Q; being 14.9 years, 
and the range from an experience of a few months to an experience 
of 44 years. The normal school training is shown by the facts 
that 59.3% are normal school graduates and 72.9% attended 
normal school. This makes these teachers superior to the average 
in this country in point of training and of experience. Of the total 
number 87.6% were taught lesson-planning. We may accept 
these statements made by them as the opinions and practice of 
those who are relatively competent to have judgments concerning 
lesson-planning, because of their training and experience. 


4A Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


From the returns of these 1103 teachers, we may conclude that 
they hold to the attitudes and practices indicated by these facts: 

1. The five formal steps were taught to 47.2% but are now used 
by 10.9%. 

2. Details of subject matter and method were taught to 52.0% 
but are now used by 19.2%. 

3. A list of items to be taken up, as constituting a plan, was 
taught to 25.7% but is now used by 54.2%. 

4. The use of pivotal questions in planning was taught to 
17.7% but is now used by 22.8%. 

5. There is little difference between the kind of plan now used 
and the kind that would be used if the teachers had complete free- 
dom to do as they please. 

6. There is a tendency toward planning only one ibs, before 
teaching as shown by the fact that 16.6% were so trained but 
23.1% now do so, and the fact that 34.9% were trained to plan a 
week in advance and only 15.8% now do so. There is evident a 
great variety of views in this matter, both in training and in 
practice. 

7. There is not a very close harmony with normal school 
practice relative to excusing from handing in plans during training, 
30. 2%, reporting being excused as compared with 56.9% reported 
by the normal schools. This may mean a changing attitude on the 
part of the normal schools since these teachers were trained. 

8. In this group 94.6% make the unqualified statement re 
they now plan, and 3.4% report some planning. 

9. Comparing the report of these teachers with that of the 
normal schools we find the teachers showing a tendency to follow 
the plan somewhat more closely than normal schools require. 
Noteworthy, because it is contrary to the apparent tendency 
toward freedom, is the fact that 2.27% report following exactly. 

10. The reasons given for abandoning the methods of planning 
which they were taught indicate a desire to use time more wisely, 
a seeking for methods which are more adaptable and more suitable 
to the needs of the growing child and to the type of work being done. 

11. Thereisa strong tendency to require teachers to plan, 61.0% 
reporting an unqualified ‘“‘yes”’ to Question 15, and 3.3% giving a 
qualified affirmative answer. 

12. There isa tendency much less strong than in normal schools 
to require that plans be handed in, as shown by the requirements 


>. 


Ms: 


Present Tendencies Relative to Lesson-Planning 45 


made of these teachers, 22.4% making an unqualified affirmative 
answer, and 32.6% reporting negatively. Because of an error in 
printing, some questionnaires omitted this question, making a 
blank report for 31.3%. Hence conclusions in this matter are unsafe. 

13. There is much freedom to vary from the plan as shown by 
the fact that 66.5% indicate that they have freedom and 5.3% 
indicate that they have a limited freedom. 

14. These teachers believe in planning, as shown by the fact 
that 89.8% say they would plan if free to do as they please, and 
4.1% make a qualified affirmative answer. Only 1.5% say they 
would not plan. 

15. In response to the question as to what these teachers advise 
relative to training teachers to plan, only 1.4% question the wisdom 
of it. A considerable number, 18.6% refrained from expressing 
opinions. The remainder practically all favor planning, although 
they vary in their ideas as to form. There is evident a tendency 
to shape planning so it will take account of the children’s activities. 


3. Relate to the Attitudes and Practices of Those Having 
Responsibility for Those Who Teach 


Those answering this questionnaire were geographically well 
distributed, representing all the states but six, as well as several 
foreign countries. The group is made up of 27.8% men and 
72.2% women. The positions held seem fairly inclusive of posi- 
tions of such responsibility available. The median in experience in 
teaching is 10.0 years with Q1 5.9 years, O03 15.3 years, with a range 
of from none to forty years. The median in supervising or ad- 
ministering is 5.6 years with Q; 3. 2 years, Q3 10.3 years, with a range 
of from a few months to 31 years. Of the whole group 72.2% 
attended normal school, the lowest percentage, aside from the small 
miscellaneous group, being in the group of administrators, 59.2%. 
The highest percentage, 88.3%, is in the group of critic teachers. 

From the reports of these administrators and supervisors we may 
conclude that: 

1. The members of all the groups believe teachers should be 
required to plan, the per cents answering ‘‘Yes”’ ranging from 
94.3% to 98.0%. It is interesting to note that the lowest per cent 
comes from the administrative group, although the difference is 
slight. 


46 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


2. There is a marked tendency to emphasize outlining subject 
matter and pivotal questions in indicating the form of lesson plan, 
outline of subject matter being indicated by 46.3% and pivotal 
questions by 51.9%, while the five formal steps are indicated by 
only 13.9%. The details of subject matter and method are indi- 
cated by 33.1%. 

3.. There is a great difference in point of view relative to the 
length of time a lesson should be planned in advance of teaching. 
One day is favored by 15.6%, one week by 16.9%, numbers some- 
what in agreement with the reports of the teachers, which were 
23.1% for one day and 15.8% for one week. 

4. Relative to the closeness in following a plan, there is a 
rather interesting paralleling with the reports of the normal schools, 
and of the teachers. On the whole the administrative-supervisory 
group indicate a little more flexibility than do the teachers. 

5. Relative to releasing a teacher from lesson-planning, 
24.3% would never do so, 16.6% would never entirely, and 3.2% 
would not during practice teaching. The administrators and super- 
visors show a greater tendency in this direction than do normal 
school people. There is a total of 27.6% who would release when 
efficiency is demonstrated. The critic teachers show this tendency 
most strongly, 35.6% of them favoring it, while supervisors have 
only 8.5% of their number favoring such release. Perhaps this is 
attributable to a different point of view relative to the function of 
lesson-planning, the critic teachers looking upon it as a means to 
learn how to teach, the supervisors as a means to promote good 
teaching or perhaps as an aid to supervision. 

6. Training prospective teachers to write lesson plans is 
favored, as shown by the fact that 89.3% of this group answer 
with an unqualified affirmative. There are two teachers who give 
a more emphatic affirmative reply. There are qualified affirmative 
answers from 6.3%. | 

7. The form recommended varies much, 29.6% recommend- 
ing details of subject matter and method; 25.2%-recommending 
outline of subject matter; 25.7% recommending pivotal questions; 
but only 10.7% recommend using the five formal steps. 

8. This group contains 67.8% who report that they were 
trained to write plans. Within the groups we find only 51.1% of 
the administrators, but 85.6% of the critic teachers, 71.2% of the 
normal school teachers, and 72.3% of the supervisors were so 


Present Tendencies Relative to Lesson-Planning 47 


trained. There were 6.1% of the whole group who reported a 
little training. 

9g. Planning was practiced by 81.5% of this group when 
teaching. Only four, or less than one per cent, reported that they 
did not plan. The smallest group reporting affirmatively was the 
administrative group, 77.6%. - 

10. There is wide variation in answer to the time in advance of 
teaching when the plan was made. It is interesting to note that 
15.7% report planning one week in advance and 15.7% report 
planning one day in advance. Other answers like ‘‘usually 1 day”’ 
and “1 day at least’’ increase the prominence of the day period. 
The different groups show no appreciable difference in their prac- 
tice in this matter. 

11. In planning to teach geography and history the tendency 
is to include more detail, use pivotal questions, organize on problem 
_ solving, give more attention to organization of subject matter, and 
plan more closely in relation to life situations and children’s needs; 
while the plans for spelling and penmanship are looked upon as 
more mechanical, more formal, more or less set, following the lines 
-of drill. 

12. This administrative-supervisory-training group contains 
39.3% who believe teachers look upon planning unfavorably, but 
9.4% who report the teacher’s attitude as good or excellent and 
13.88% who report the attitude as favorable. The lack of har- 
mony of this group with the attitude of the 1103 teachers, 89.8% 
of whom reported that they would plan if free to do as they pleased, 
may be explained in the fact that a large percentage of the 1103 
were trained in normal schools to plan, while the administrative- 
training-supervisory group deal with a large number of untrained 
teachers. The 1103 are not a typical group of classroom teachers. 


SUMMARY 


1. Planning is approved quite generally by supervisors, ad- 
ministrators, and those engaged in training teachers. 

2. There is a wide diversity in opinion as to the form of the plan. 
The most favored elements are (a) outline of subject matter, 
(6) details of subject matter and method, (c) pivotal questions, 
and (d) a list of items indicating the proposed procedure. 
There is a very small number who favor the five formal steps. 


48 


Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


The writing out of every question to be asked is not approved 

by any considerable number. 

The former custom of handing in plans for a week in advance 

is being displaced by a tendency toward planning nearer to the 

time of teaching, notably a day in advance. This seems in 

accord with the tendency to take account of the children’s 

activities when planning. 

There seems no noticeable tendency to insist upon close ad- 

herence to the plan. 

Planning seems to be regarded variously as: 

a. An agency in the process of training teachers. 

b. An agency in supervision, particularly to inform sub- 
stitute teachers of the new lesson. 

c. A means toward better teaching so long as one teaches. 

There is a considerable number who favor excusing students 

in training and teachers from planning or from handing in plans 

when sufficient ability and experience are attained. This 

suggests, on the one hand, a view of planning as a crutch, and, 

on the other, a view of it as a safety device of those in re- 

sponsibility over teachers. 

There is marked recognition of the difference in procedure in 

such drill lessons as obtain in much of the work in spelling and 

writing, and in such investigative work as obtains in teaching 

history and geography, implying that no one form of lesson 

plan will fit all needs. : 

There is a very pronounced approval of the training of teachers 

to plan. ; 

The forty different plans returned with questionnaires re- 

veal a general effort to modify form, but a tendency to hold 

on to the old form as much as possible. 


CHAPTER AVI 


SOME SUGGESTIONS RELATIVE TO CONTINUOUS 
PREPARATION OF DAILY WORK IN THE 
CONDUCT OF INSTRUCTION 


I. THE BACKGROUND 


The conceptions relative to the preparation of lessons, which 
have been traced in the foregoing chapters, cover a century of 
distinct progress in educational theory. These varying concep- 
tions have been based upon changing ideas relative to (1) the 
psychology of the learning process, (2) the nature and function of 
the school, (3) the selection and use of subject matter, (4) the meth- 
od of training teachers for the conduct of instruction, and (5) the 
method of administering and supervising instruction. 

1. Previous to 1820 the psychology of the learning process does 
not appear to have received much consideration by teachers in this 
country. The faculty psychology was generally accepted, with 
the faith in the transfer of training which it implied. Learning was 
a process of mastering subject matter—largely an act of memory. 
The school was not yet generally conceived as a public institution. 
Its function was that of preparing children for those needs which 
the future would bring to them. There was a minimum of subject 
matter, usually characterized as the ‘‘Three R’s.”’ There was 
little notion of teaching as a profession, nor of the possibility of 
professional training. 

2. The period from 1820 to 1860 does not appear to have modified 
belief relative to psychology. The school, as a public institution, 
» seems to have become a reality. One writer has called this the 
period when the country school was most influential. It still wasa 
place where one learns primarily for the future. The subject 
matter continued to be regarded as a prescribed thing with no 
thought of selection in relation to the child’s needs. There was, 
however, a wider range of subjects taught. The normal school 
was established as a definite institution together with the develop- 
ment of the idea of teaching as a profession. With the establish- 
ment of the normal school arose the problem of developing a tech- 


50 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


nique in training teachers. There has been found no evidence that 
this technique was developed to any extent in this period. Planning 
lessons does not seem to have been used as a method in training 
teachers. Little attention seems to have been given to the teach- 
ing process. Supervision of teaching had not developed. 

3. The period from 1860 to 1890 was the period of active in- 
terest in object teaching. Psychologically the emphasis was placed 
upon the importance of perception as a means of learning. Em- 
phasis was still upon learning as a process of storing knowledge for 
future use. The school was the agency of society for preparing 
children for adult needs. Some attention was placed upon child 
activity, particularly in the lower grades, due to the influence of the 
kindergarten. Subject matter continued to be something imposed 
upon the child. It was selected relative to adult needs. The 
method of training teachers gradually included the device of exact- 
ing ‘‘written sketches’’ of lessons before teaching. Due to the 
object-teaching influence, lessons tended to be formed after the ob- 
ject-teaching ideas. This gave emphasis to questioning. The 
double-column of subject matter and method was used early in this 
period. Later, plans for lessons were developed, differing from the 
form used in object teaching, and emphasizing ways of fixing facts. 

4. The period from 1890 to 1900 was the period in which Her- 
bartian psychology was introduced. This was a psychology of 
growth by acquiring new ideas which were added to the appercep- 
tive mass of ideas constituting the individual. The process of 
assimilating new ideas was by induction. Hence the learning 
process was said to consist of (1) preparing the individual for new 
ideas, (2) presenting the new to him, (3) so guiding him that, by the 
process of induction, he compared the new materials with themselves 
and with past ideas, and abstracted the common element appearing, 
(4) seeing that he stated this new notion as a generalization, and 
(5) seeing that he made further application of it. This theory of 
the movement in teaching was embodied in the so-called five 
formal steps—formal because it was believed all teaching should be 
fitted to this form. Much emphasis was placed upon the use of 
carefully worded questions. The five formal steps were rapidly 
taken over by the normal schools as an essential element to be used 
in training teachers. Subject matter was muchenriched. Through 
the manual-training influence much more value was given to ac- 
tivity. But subject matter was still regarded as an end, imposed 


Some Suggestions Relative to Preparation of Daily Work 51 


upon the child because he would need to know it some day. Super- 
visors and administrators came into the use of lesson-planning as a 
means toward directing school work. 

5. Lhe period from 1900 to 1923 is a period of transition. The 
new psychology, which began to be disseminated and developed 
at the close of the century, discredited not only the faculty psy- 
chology but also the Herbartian psychology and doctrines. The 
influence of the Herbartian movement was so strong, however, that 
this period is characterized by extensive use of the formal lesson * 
plan. At first the five formal steps were developed and refined into 
great detail. By the middle of the period changes became apparent 
in the form of the plan, changes proposed and used by the former 
leaders of Herbartianism. As the period continued, changes con- 
tinued, but they were usually characterized by an attempt to hold 
on to as much of the old as possible. These changes have been due 
in part to the new psychology of learning definite responses to 
given situations. They are in part due to the growth of the idea 
that democracy should be a characteristic of the school. John 
Dewey’s teaching that the school is intrinsically a social organiza- 
tion was largely responsible for the new theory of the nature and 
function of the school. Likewise subject matter began to be looked 
upon as a means in furthering the activities going on in the school. 

This period is then to be regarded as a transition period in which 
educators have been shifting the point of view relative to the 
learning process and the nature and function of the school and its 
subject matter, a period of great activity in training teachers and in 
supervising instruction, both of which made much use of lesson- 
planning; and consequently a period in which dissatisfaction arose 
with the forms of lesson plans being used, dissatisfaction because 
these forms did not harmonize with the newer theories of education. 


II. THE PROBLEM 


It is evident then that lesson-planning, based upon the formal 
steps of instruction, is not suitable to the needs of to-day. There 
is a general dissatisfaction with the attempt to mold lessons ac- 
cording to these formal steps and at the same time conduct the 
class work according to modern principles of education. As a 
result plans of great variety are being devised, but in most cases 
those who attempt innovations seem inclined to depart as little 
as possible from the traditional, for they are attempting to inject 


§2 


Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


modern spirit into the old form. And so we are confronted with 
the problem of how to guide teachers in the preparation of lessons 
to the end that better teaching may result. 

The difficulties which confront teachers and supervisors relative 
to lesson-planning are: 


I. 
2: 


Io. 


NO 


1 GPa 


13. 


The plans generally used do not fit the present-day psychology. 
They assume that teaching is merely testing’study and pre- 
senting subject matter. 

They are built upon a theory of prescribed, imposed subject 
matter. 

Planning much in advance does not sufficiently take account 
of needs and particular interests of the growing child, for when 
planning much in advance these can not be seen. 

Not all class work can be fitted into one general procedure. 
Not all class activity is developmental, as the formal steps 
assume. | 

There is a need for a record of class progress which the plan 
does not meet, for it does not indicate what was accomplished. 
A record is needed which is both projective and retrospective. 
Lesson-planning as usually taught has been too time-consum- 
ing and has not made the student teachers learn to regard 
planning as essential to good teaching. 

Planning has been looked upon as a device or means toward 
learning to teach and therefore has been regarded as a tem- 
porary expedient. 

Too often the plans have been obviously a requirement to 
meet the convenience of critics or supervisors or administrators, 
to inform them of what is contemplated, and to inform sub- 
stitute teachers as to what to do. 

Plans have usually failed to deal with the activities of children, 
giving their attention only to presentation of subject matter. 
Planning, as usually administered, has tended to make the les- 
son a separate entity, not an integral part of a growing activity. 
There has been an over-emphasis of questions and answers 
when considered in the light of the total school-room activity 
for which the teacher must prepare. 


In attempting to formulate some principles relative to meeting 


the need for better guidance in the preparation for instruction, a 
statement of the principles underlying modern education is here 
offered, followed by the implications of these principles for planning. 


Some Suggestions Relative to Preparation of Daily Work 53 
III. PRESENT THEORIES RELATIVE TO INSTRUCTION* 


1.° The Nature of the Learning Process 


a. The learning process 1s based upon self-activity. Learning 
comes only through the activity of the one who learns. It is the 
process of making new connections in the nervous system or 
modifying those already existing. These connections are such as 
to cause the individual to do certain things in given situations. 
This connection-forming comes about only as the learner himself is 
active. The drive or dynamo is in him. 

This process is something that is always going on in the growing 
individual. Learning is inevitable. It is neither intermittent nor 
spasmodic. The child is always doing something and it is this 
activity which causes connections to be formed. This continuum 
of activity constitutes the experience process. Its nature depends 
upon the kind of environment which supplies the stimuli to call out 
responses, and also upon tendencies to respond which are already 
existent in the individual. As the environment is varied, varying 
responses are called forth. As satisfaction and annoyance result . 
connections are established or weakened. Hence there is going on 
a constant reconstruction of connections. This continuum of 
activity thus results in a reconstruction ‘of experience. To the 
extent that this reconstruction is guided into building up desirable 
connections that make for growth, the resultant is educative. 

b. Instruction consists of guiding the activity by 

1) So selecting the environment that stimuli are acting which lead 
to desirable responses. No action takes place without some form of 
stimulation to call it forth, external or internal. The instructor, 
then, may modify the nature of the activity by modifying the 
environment which is stimulating it. 

2) So shaping the satisfiers and annoyers that desirable learning 
takes place. When a response is made to stimulation, satisfaction 
results if this response fulfills the set toward which the individual 
is: reaching, and if the concomitants are desirable. The resulting 
satisfaction tends to strengthen the connections, while annoyance 
tends to weaken them. Applying these principles, the instructor 
may so shape conditions that the concomitants are favorable to 

*The theories here given are the author’s, made in the light of whatever she has been able to 


gain from whatever sources were available. The informed will recognize the sources of much 
that is presented. 


54 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


such responses as are desirable. Instruction is then a method of 
education which works indirectly through the modification and 
control of the environment. This is done through simplifying the 
elements; through adding needed desirable elements; through 
eliminating as far as may be the undesirable elements; and through 
stabilizing by giving a better balance to the various elements. 


2. The Function of the School 


a. The school is an agency of society designed to further the learn- 
ing process to the end that there may be provided the means for 
control of social life. In this sense society is reaching beyond it- 
self, striving to become a better social order. The public school is 
unique in that it is the only agency of society where lines of cleavage 


do not exist. It is open to all the children of all the people. The 


school is, in fact, the only agency of society in which the individual 
works on a basis of equality with all other children. Here no lines 
of social distinction obtain. It is a living process providing en- 
vironing conditions which may be lacking in the other social 
situations in which the child lives. Here he learns to live in a social 
situation, i.e., he learns to live with others. Here he obtains the 
measure of himself in his relations with others. Here he learns to 
lead and to follow. 

b. The outcomes of the school liter are in terms of knowledge about 
the actualities of life, habits and skills essential in the living process, 
attitudes toward the problems and conditions of life, and appreciations 
of the values of life. ‘These can be established only under the 
conditions of learning. This means only as one engages in life 
experiences can he form habits of living or appreciations relating 
to life values. 

c. The method of the school is one of conducting a rich living proc- 
ess in which the children are guided in their activities so that a full- 
ness of experience may result bringing about the desirable growth. 
It is only as we live that we learn to live. Living in a social situa- 
tion is the essential in learning to live socially. Thus the school 
must be thought of as a society in itself. The children learn as 
they meet the situations arising in living in this society. This 
living comes through the activities engaged in. The stimuli to 
activity are such as the situation inherently provides. To the 
extent that the school situation stimulates to rich full living, to 


- 


Some Suggestions Relative to Preparation of Daily Work ° 55 


that extent is desirable growth taking place,—knowledges, habits, 
attitudes, and appreciations are being established. 

The guidance to activity is obtained through modifying the 
environment, guiding the selection of activities, helping in the 
evaluation of purposes and achievements, and bringing about 
satisfiers and annoyers which will serve to establish the desirable 
outcomes. The teacher is himself a member of this social group. : 
He is the most experienced member of the group. He is the one 
charged with the responsibility of guiding ‘the process toward the 
desirable outcomes. 

This school life includes doing a great variety of things which 
appeal to the children of the given age and environment, striving 
to become possessed of the skills needed for doing things as indi- 
viduals and as groups, developing interests which lead into new 
fields of investigation, learning to understand the activities of 
the outside world which concern the members of the school group,— 
a continuous process of making life more meaningful,” effective, 
and satisfying. 


3. The Nature of Instruction 


a. Instruction 1s designed to help the child to reach 1n better direc- 
tions, to achteve the ends toward which he 1s reaching, and to move 
forward to larger reaches. It is guidance, not merely or even pri- 
marily presentation of subject matter; it is leadership, not cate- 
chising. It implies that the teacher know in part at least the de- 
tails involved in the activity; that he prepare himself for the even- 
tualities that may come, that he be ready to lead the children, 
step by step, where help is needed; and that he have available 
resources to ‘supplement and enrich what the children bring to 
the activity. The Herbartians, believing that development came 
through assimilation of subject matter into ideas, taught that 
instruction consisted largely of right presentation of subject matter. 
The process of instruction centered in the teacher. The child was | 
not regarded as vitally responsible for the process. With the 
‘present theory that learning comes through the activity of the ° 
learner, such subject matter is secured as is needed in furthering 
the activities. The instructor guides the child in getting the needed — 
subject matter and in carrying his activities through. 

b. Subject matter is a means toward this growing process. It 
is not presented to the child because it is a desirable acquisition. 


56 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


It is sought by the child as he needs it in attaining his ends. Knowl- 
edge of facts becomes valuable as this knowledge serves in ac- 
complishing things attempted. Skills are acquired as they are 
needed in activities. The skills are developed by the child because 
they serve his ends. He gets the subject matter he needs and in 
so doing learns how to get subject matter when he needs it. 

c. The center of gravity 1s yn the child and his growth, not in the 
subject matter. Whereas the school once assumed that the subject 
matter was fixed and must be imposed upon the child, now it is 
coming to be regarded as relative to the child’s growing needs. 
- The constant is the growing process. The variable is the particular 
elements of subject matter needed. To the extent that the growth 
taking place is normal, that the environment is a truly social one, 
to that extent the subject matter needed in carrying out the 
activities will involve a constant minimum, characteristic of living 
in such an environment. The point to be emphasized is that the 
subject matter is fitted to the child’s needs, the child is not to 
be fitted to the subject matter. 

d. The recitation 1s a time in the school procedure when the chal- 
dren through concerted action seek to achieve certain desirable ends, 
recognized and purposed by the group. Its characteristic is the social 
element of concerted action. Its name is unfortunate in that it 
does not give one a true notion of its function. The term arose 
through the notion that once obtained that it was a time when the 
children proved to the teacher that they knew the set task by 
re-citing it. With the.present theory of education we need a new 
term suggesting the social element of coming together for the pur- 
pose of accomplishing an end through combined effort, of checking 
up on work accomplished, of securing the guidance of the teacher 
in evaluating what has been done, and of making further plans. 
It is a time of social selection toward further ends. 

é. The recitation varies in its nature according to the ends to be 
attained. At times the objectives may be: 

1) Seeking to acquire a specific skill, recognized as needed. 

2) Seeking to solve a perplexing problem. 

3) Seeking to have an enjoyable experience in common with 
others—a consumer’s purpose as distinguished from a 
producer’s purpose. 

4) Conferring together for the purpose of formulating plans, dis- 
cussing reports, judging results, or purposing new activities. 


Some Suggestions Relative to Preparation of Daily Work 57 


5) Sharing, in which the individuals bring to the class ex- 

periences gained in other. situations. 

6) Seeking to give embodiment to ideas through some form of 

construction. 

By the term, recitation, we mean then a period for working 
together. This includes the codperation of all—pupils and teacher. 
What is done may vary greatly, but the characteristic of such a 
period should always be consensus of purposes, combination of 
effort, group consciousness of available ability, and group judg- 
ment of results. 


IV. THE IMPLICATIONS OF PRESENT THEORIES FOR 
PREPARATION FOR INSTRUCTION 


rt. The Nature of Preparation 


a. Efficient instruction, conceived of as expert guidance in carry- 
ing on the children’s activities, calls for very careful preparation for 
each period spent 1n work together. The teacher is the most experi- 
enced member of the group. He knows most about the impli- 
cations of the activities being engaged in—their worth, their dif- 
ficulties, their consequences, their relationships. Therefore he 
can see farther, can make the experiences richer, more meaningful. 
Furthermore, he is the one in the group who is charged with the 
responsibility for the direction the activities take, the outcomes 
of the effort. He dare not approach the period when he and the 
children are to come together for group action, without having 

done all in his power to be ready to meet the needs that arise. 

Anything less than this would indicate indifference toward his 
responsibility. He is a member of the group—the most potent 
member. 

b. The preparation for a given lesson should be made after the 
preceding period of work together. This enables the teacher in his 
preparation to take full account of what the children are doing 
and of what they are proposing to do next. Earlier preparation 
is inadequate because it cannot foresee the direction which the 
children’s activity may take nor the progress they may make. 
Since teaching is not presenting subject matter in specified quanti- 
ties, but guiding and’ furthering activity, it follows that one cannot 
prepare to further an activity except as he knows what it is. 


58 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


c. The responsibility for guiding the direction of the work requires 
a longer view of tt than one day ahead, that this perspective may take 
account of relative values, alternative directions, and desirable out- 
comes. Hence the teacher needs to have in mind the extent and 
implications of the activity, its range of related subject matter, 
and the types of activity which may grow out of it. It is well to 
keep in this same journal of the recitations outlines of such large 
fields of work. 

d. This daily planning includes: 

1) Consideration of possible directions toward which 
activities may be guided. 

2) Familiarizing one’s self with the details of subject mat- 
ter which may be involved in making the chosen ac- 
tivities most worth while. ; 

3) Considering the procedure best suited to engaging in 
the activity that learning may result. This involves 
the application of the laws of learning to the proposed 
activity. 

e. To further efficuency in instruction, a record of this prepara- 
tion should be made, including such details as will be useful for the 
teacher's reference during the period when he.1s working with the 
group, or afterward. This practice of writing out a memorandum 
of what one has done in preparation, serves to make the thinking 
tangible, definite, specific. One is more inclined to arrive at a 
decision if he attempts to write what he concludes. But one should 
write only what is useful to him. In the stress of group discussion 
one easily may lose perspective as to relative values; memory of 
needed facts may fail. It seems highly desirable that the teacher 
have before him such memoranda as will safeguard him against 
such momentary lapses of memory.or judgment. The teacher’s 
task is one of guiding and stimulating activity, not one of exhibiting 
feats of memory. The degree of detail in the written memoranda 
will vary much with the type of work, the amount of experience, 
and the degree of familiarity with the material involved. The 
written statement will be such as will help the teacher to hold 
in mind what he thinks will happen, stated in what seems to him 
the probable order in which it will occur. 

f. The practice of checking over this written memorandum of 
preparation, immediately after the work of the group 1s adjourned, 
wil make of it a record of the work from day to day, serving as a 


Some Suggestions Relative to Preparation of Daily Work 59 


journal for future reference. It takes but a few minutes to check 
the things that were done, and make note of questions raised, ac- 
tivities proposed or agreed upon, work to be done before the next 
group meeting, and valuable references or illustrative material 
brought in by individuals. Such a journal becomes most valuable 
as an index of the work accomplished, the growth made. It also 
indicates probable new lines of growth and activity. 

g. Because of the diversity of activities for which preparation should 
be made no one procedure can be used in preparing for all situations. 
For this reason any set form for recording and preparation made 
seems tnadvisable. The kinds of things a group may do together 
are numerous and varied. Preparation for guiding these things 
does not imply fitting all of them into one mold. To do s0 is im- 
possible. The attempt to do so results in a cumbersome kind of 
artificiality not conducive to real instruction and leadership. 

The five formal steps constituted a definite form for a lesson plan. 
It was in harmony with a psychology of learning which taught that 
the individual must be prepared for the new subject matter; this 
subject matter must be presented to him; through the process of 
apperception it must be assimilated into the self; and it must then 
be further used. All learning was believed to consist of this se- 
quence of steps. Therefore, all instruction must conform to this 
sequence and consist of the so-called five formal steps. 

With a changed conception of learning’ and instruction where 
the teacher’s work is guiding activities of varied kinds, we find 
ourselves confronted with the necessity of confining ourselves to 
no one form. 

h. In essence, the memorandum of preparation should contain: 

1) An enumeration of the things one expects will happen, 
stated in the probable order of happening. The amount of 
detail here will vary with experience and with the type 
of work contemplated. 

2) A memorandum of such details of subject matter as the 
convenience of the teacher may find valuable, because they 
are thus made immediately available. In many instances 
no such memoranda are needed. The subject matter 
to be used may, however, be somewhat new or organized 
from a new point of view. In such cases the teacher’s 
efficiency is greatly increased if the memorandum is 
helpful. 


60 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


3) A memorandum of assignments that were agreed upon, 
of lists of tllustrative or constructive material that may be 
desirable, and of references that may be useful. Definite- 
ness of detail on the teacher’s part is conducive to 
definiteness on the part of the children. Adherence 
to purposes set up needs reénforcement by a type of 
leadership that takes account of essential details. 

1. The degree of detail written out in a plan should depend upon 
the degree the teacher feels she needs. 

In judging what should be written, relative to preparation for 
instruction, the teacher should use the criterion of helpfulness to 
himself in the process of instruction. There seems no other justi- 
fiable reason for using time in writing what one prepares for his 
work. 


2. Considerations Relative to Preparation for Instruction, 
Involved in Training Teachers 


a. Novices, in preparing for their work, should be encouraged 
to write out detatled statements of their preparation. These details 
should include only such items as will be helpful to them and as 
will be so recognized by them. Imposition of more than this is 
not conducive to building up the desirable attitude toward prepara- 
tion. If the labor of written preparation is valuable, it must be 
because of its effect upon the quality of instruction. Hence only 
such details as are conducive to better instruction should be in- 
cluded. 

b. Critic teachers should gain their information as to the prepared- 
ness of the student teachers from these written statements, supplemented 
by conferences when necessary. Acquaintance with the field of 
activity involved and knowledge of the limitations of inexperienced 
' teachers, will enable the competent training teacher to locate 
weaknesses in the preparation and see that they are strengthened 
before the work is actually conducted. Requiring laborious details 
which seem unnecessary to the student teacher may save the critic 
from using constructive imagination, but it is deadening to interest 
in vital preparation for instruction. 

c. This work of practice teaching should be regarded as a con- 
trolled laboratory experiment is regarded, in that the critic teacher 
should reduce the new factors involved for the young teacher, in a 
given period, to a very small number. Other problems involved in 


Some Suggestions Relative to Preparation of Daily Work 61 


the work to be conducted should be safeguarded by the critic teacher 
even to the extent of pointing out ways of conducting these other 
factors connected with the activity. This will obviate the use 
of too laborious details in writing lesson plans. When a student 
has demonstrated ability to guide a given kind of activity, it seems 
unnecessary for him to write out the detailed steps every time such 
work recurs with his class. 

d. The critic teacher's work should be so organized as to provide 
for receiving the student teacher’s written statement of his prepara- 
tion and holding conference upon it after the immediately preceding 
lesson. Under existing conditions this is practically impossible 
for some critic teachers. Nevertheless, the practice of handing 
in the statements of detailed preparation for a given lesson several 
days in advance of teaching is a contradiction of the whole theory 
of instruction as guiding activities, and makes it a process of im- 
posing subject matter. Such a practice cannot truly take account 
of what the children are doing. 

e. The student teacher’s acquaintance with the subject matter 
involved should be evinced 1n the general outline of the field covered 
by the activity and in the memoranda of needed subject matter noted 
from day to day tn the journal. ‘Thorough acquaintance with sub- 
ject matter on the part of the critic teacher will enable him to 
detect weaknesses in preparation without imposing the require- 
ment of writing out full details. 


3. Considerations Relative to Preparation Involved in the 
Supervision and Administration of Teaching 


a. The classroom teacher should make daily preparation for his 
work. Failure to do so means indifference, or at least an inferior 
sort of leadership. Because social environment is constantly 
changing, the subject matter pertinent to the consideration of 
any problem varies with the occasion. Failure to use pertinent 
details is conducive to low standards of work with the children. 
No amount of experience in teaching removes the necessity of 
organizing anew one’s thinking relative to a given situation and 
of selecting data pertinent to carrying out the proposed activity. 
If the classroom work is conducted on the lines of group codpera- 
tion already suggested, the teacher must give time to evaluation 
of work being done, consideration of directions which the work 


62 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


may take, and judgment of the worth of proposed activities in 
terms of possible outcomes. This means careful preparation on 
the part of the teacher. 

b. A memorandum of this preparation should be written in the 
journal of the work going on, but it should be written in such detaal 
only as will be of value to the one who writes it. The practice of super- 
visors and administrators in making specific exactions as to what 
shall be written seems not to be conducive to building up a desirable 
attitude toward preparation for instruction. 

c. The journals of daily preparation should be open to super- 
visors and administrators, serving as an index of work done and of 
work proposed. If the teacher follows the suggestions already 
made of keeping in this journal outlines of the possibilities of 
activities being engaged in, and memoranda of daily preparation, 
followed up by a habit of checking work done and noting ideas 
proposed by the children, the supervisor will find such a record 
invaluable in giving an indication of what is going on. The super- 
visor who knows his work ought to find this adequate without 
imposing any exactions of his own. 

d. Such a journal will be sufficient as a guide to substitute teachers. 
The practice, prevalent in some public schools, of requiring the 
teacher to write daily plans in order that a substitute teacher may 
know what to do, in case the teacher should be absent from school, 
seems a very expensive way of meeting an occasional difficulty. 
If the written statement is a true index of what is going on, few 
substitutes can carry on the work by following the brief statement 
given them. What sort of work occasional substitutes should do 
is a discussion apart from this study. But to the extent that a sub- 
stitute attempts to help the children continue the work that is 
in progress, the journal of the teacher’s continuous preparation 
is a far better index for the substitute than any perfunctory 
statement written because of administrative exaction. 


4. Considerations Relative to the Different Kinds of 
Procedure for Which the Teacher Should Prepare 


a. In all recitations where the chief aspects of the work are the 
formation of more or less automatic responses to given situations, 
the procedure should be in harmony with approved drill EASELS: 
which includes the following points: 


Some Suggestions Relative to Preparation of Daily Work 63 


1) 


8) 


See that the learner has a definite purpose before he 
begins attempting the formation of the habit. 

See that the learner knows exactly what to do before 
beginning practice. 

See that the learner launches the habit correctly. 

See that the learner’s purpose include the notion that, 
having once attempted learning the correct form, he 
must use the correct form wherever he finds need for 
the skill; he should not tolerate exceptions. 

See that all practice is conducted with attention. Varia- 
tion of the details of drill may further this. 

Conclude the practice with a test, that the learner may 
know how well he is doing. 

Distribute the practice time according to the law of 
decreasing the practice periods and increasing the 
interval between practice periods as skill is increasingly 
attained. 

See that there is definite use of the skill at intervals 
in the course of the school work. 


b. In group activity where the purpose is the solving of perplex- 
ing problems, the procedure should be in harmony with the laws of 
good thinking. 


1) 


#2) 


3) 


There must be a difficulty or state of ‘‘unsolvedness”’ 
of which the child is aware, and he must feel it so keenly 
as to be possessed of the determination to go ahead in 
the face of difficulties. The mere statement of a ques- 
tion is inadequate to maximum thinking. There must 


be the purpose to find the solution. It is the purpose 


which furnishes the stimulus to all the activity which 
follows. 

There must be time and opportunity for the pupils to 
locate and define the difficulty, stating it clearly. The 
fullness of this phase of the work does not come all at 
once. Other steps in the thinking process reveal some 
of these details. Perhaps one does not get fullness of 
details until he has reached a solution. 

There must be time for the class to receive and note 
suggested solutions as they occur to individuals. In 
doing this there is developed initiative in making sug- 
gestions. In this step we have one of the finest evidences 


64 


4) 


5) 


6) 


7) 


Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


of superior ability to think. The ability to do this 
phase of thinking should be most carefully husbanded 
and developed. The teacher’s skill in leadership in the 
stimulation of the group action should be concentrated 
at this point to bring forth the best effort of the indi- 
viduals. The teacher should strive to develop a class 
attitude which attaches value to every evidence of 
effort in this direction. 

These suggested solutions must be elaborated by the 
class so that they may see the pertinent elements and 
devise effective ways of testing them out with expe- 
diency. Sagacity in seeing the significant elements is 
primarily a quality of native ability. It cannot be given 
to those who do not have it. But to the extent that 
individuals possess this ability it should be valued and. 
utilized. Group work can do much in teaching children 
to value work of this kind. It can, also, teach them to 
guard against accepting suggestions without adequate 
proof. This recognition of the worth of testing and 
proving is, perhaps,.one of the most fundamental 
factors of group activity in problem solving. 

There must be definite acceptance of the solution which 
tests out as the true one and rejection of those which 
failed to meet the tests. This involves a willingness 
to work, knowing that part of the work is of no value 
other than for eliminating the wrong suggestions. It 
further involves willingness to abandon suggestions, 
which, though cherished and fostered, have been proved 
of no value. These are qualities difficult to develop. 
But strength of purpose and satisfaction in successful 
achievement emphasize the desirability of these charac- 
teristics. Group activity in solving problems is of 
worth in developing these traits. 

There must be use of the solution in further situations. 
This is but the natural way of showing acceptance and 
of proving the worth of the effort. 

The preparation for such group work should not neces- 
sarily imply the completion of one of these elements 
in an act of thought before the beginning of another, 
nor should it imply any fixed order in the procedure. 


Some Suggestions Relative to Preparation of Daily Work 65 


Between the time when one purposes to solve a dif- 
ficulty and the time when he arrives at a solution, the 
activity which goes on contributes in varying order and 
degree to all of the work involved in solving—locating 
and defining, making suggested solutions, and elaborat- 
ing and testing out these suggestions. 

8) There should be opportunity for making frequent sum- 
maries and checking the work with the implications 
of the problem. Such work tends to emphasize tenacity 
of purpose, and teach relative values involved in or- 
ganization. It further helps to see the value of details— 
their significance in solving problems and ways of getting 
and organizing them when needed. Such summaries 
give perspective to the whole activity. 

9) There should be frequent reference by the class to the 
problem under consideration; by way of checking irrele- 
vant material and questions. 

c. In group actiwities where the purpose is one of having an 
aesthetic experience, the procedure should be in harmony with the 
known principles that govern learning to like the aesthetic, which 
include! 

1) See that the children are exposed to the beautiful under 
conditions which will bring satisfaction and cause the 
children to want more of such experiences, and which 
may lead (a) to an analysis of the factors to be appre- 
ciated and (0b). to an increased appreciation. It is 
primarily a consumer’s point of view which we wish 
to develop. In the elementary school, where the at- 
tempt is made to give, chiefly, that which all the children 
need, this seems to be the justifiable point of view. The 
aesthetics should be the possession of all, but they can 
be so only as all learn* how to come under their in- 
fluence. This can be learned only by being exposed 
again and again where the dominant purpose is one of 
being brought under the influence of the aesthetic 


1Because the investigations that have been made of the milder, more desirable emotions are 
limited, the present state of knowledge relative to education involving these emotions is inade- 
quate. The control and use of these emotions, however, seem to be fundamentally involved in 
any attempt to state the principles that underlie guiding’child activity in the field of the aesthetics. 
The best that can be done at present seems to be to state, in terms of the laws of learning, what 
one should do to bring satisfaction out of such experiences and to cause the learner to seek more of 
such experiences, on increasingly more valuable levels of the aesthetic life. 


66 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


element. One must be in a receptive state of mind. 
One must want to experience those elements to which 
another may have given form. 

2) Provide an acquaintance with the related data to furnish 
material for the background sufficient for the play 
of the imagery involved in the experience. Giving form 
to an aesthetic experience involves material details 
of some sort. The one who gave it form himself found 
it embedded in a real*situation. Real situations are 
usually made up of commonplace details, the details 
in turn used in putting the experience into form for 
others. To the extent that the consumer is familiar 
with these details to that extent can his imagery play 
and thus cause him to experience similar emotions. 
Therefore the teacher, in leading’children in an aesthetic 
experience, should give careful attention to acquaintance 
with the background of data involved. 

3) If worthwhile occasions offer, give some opportunity 
for the children to engage in some form of creative work. 
To the extent that they try to give aesthetic form to 
some of their experiences will they learn to value the 
efforts of those who have produced some of our most 
cherished aesthetic treasures. | 

4) Encourage a receptive, non-critical attitude. 

5) Teach the children to regard the acquisition of tech- 
nical ability as a means toward further appreciation, 
not as an end in itself, i. e., the children should in this 
connection, learn such technique and only such, as 
they recognize as needful in the attainment of their 
objectives. 

d. In conducting work where the purpose 1s to construct something, 
there must be provision for the children to make a definite plan, pro- 
cure the necessary materials and tools, state and evaluate the steps 
necessary in the process, make the construction, and judge the results. 
In work of this kind, care should be taken to conserve individuality. 
Constructive work in school does not imply using factory methods 
for securing uniformity and maximum output. Much care should 
be exercised in teaching the children to judge results. Construc- 
tive work done, which has been delegated to the individual by 
the group, may be so handled as to yield valuable results in judg- 


Some Suggestions Relative to Preparation of Daily Work 67 


ing the outcomes. The weight of group judgment should be valued 
by the teacher who is making preparation to lead a group in con- 
structive work. 

e. In conducting conferences where the purpose of the children 
1s to formulate plans, discuss procedure, make and hear reports, 
propose new activities, or share experiences, the procedure should 
be such as will develop leadership, encourage and guide initiative, 
teach adherence to purpose, respect the rights of all in the group, and 
train for organization of ideas. This is but another way of saying 
that the school society should be conducted according to the rules 
for conducting any society where the objectives are identified 
with the desirable growth of each individual member of the group. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


I. THE HISTORY OF LESSON PLANNING 


ApAMS, JoHN. The Herbartian Psychology Applied to the Science of Education. 
Heath, 1897. | 

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Bibhography 69 


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70 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


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SOI ARE HY 


72 Changing Conceptions Relative to Planning Lessons 


THORNDIKE, Epwarp L. Principles of Teaching. Chapters III, VIII, IX and 


X._ A. G. Seiler, 1906. 
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WoopworTH, RoBErt S. Psychology, a Study of Mental Life. Henry Holt, 
1921. 


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